Chewing gum in the laboratory – allowed or forbidden?

"Chewing gum in the lab – allowed or forbidden?" I recently posed this question to staff and graduate students during a safety briefing for a genetic engineering facility. The response to this question is often a mixture of disagreement and hesitation: "Is chewing gum even food? Is chewing gum eaten if you just chew it but don't swallow it?" But beyond all the complex considerations and derivations, the initial question is as simple as it is clear to answer: "Forbidden!"

For example, according to Annex 2 (to Section 14 GenTSV) AI b. No. 17, food, beverages, and cosmetics may not be stored in workrooms even in the S 1 area. The same applies to production rooms, greenhouses, and animal rooms, as well as airlocks from security level 3. Furthermore, clear rules are set out in this regard in both the Biological Agents Ordinance (BioStoffV) and the Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV). As part of the general safety measures from protection level 1 (Section 9 BioStoffV), the employer must ensure that employees do not consume any food or beverages in work areas where biological agents may occur. To this end, the employer must set up separate areas before work begins, which must not be entered with personal protective equipment, including protective clothing. The Technical Rules for Biological Agents (TRBA) 100 supplement this with storage. When handling hazardous substances, in compliance with general protective measures (Section 8 of the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances), it must be ensured, based on the results of the risk assessment, that employees do not consume food or beverages in work areas where they may be exposed to hazardous substances. This is further specified in Section 4.6.2 of the Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances (TRGS) 526: "Food and beverages may not be brought into laboratories where activities involving hazardous substances are carried out, and cosmetics may not be applied. Appropriate social areas must be provided for their storage and consumption."

Anyone who still wants to engage in a discussion with nitpicking chewing gum enthusiasts argues that luxury foods, in the narrower sense, are foodstuffs or foods that are not primarily consumed for their nutritional value or to satisfy hunger. The last resort would be the not entirely serious reference to Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008 of the European Parliament, according to which the chewing gum base is considered a food ingredient. Chewing gum is therefore among the foods and foodstuffs that are not permitted in laboratories.