Let Us Help You Find the Right Choice from All the Sneezeguards On the Market

A salad bar sneeze guard plays a major role in everyday life. Whether you realize it or not, every salad bar you come across has glass over the top that allows you to look over the food. This glass isn’t just for aesthetics: it offers health protection, too.

BSI XG3600 XGuard Brushed Aluminum 3-Way Adjustable Portable Market Guard	Our favorite for 2020
Buffet Enhancements 48 Inch Portable Table Top Sneeze Guard	A very close runner-up
BSI ZG9600 ZGuard Brushed Aluminum Portable Market Guard	A great guard from BSI

Salad bars are prone to germs. People from all walks of life grab food with their hands, don’t clean their hands, or can sneeze on food. Guards protect you from the latter at a commercial salad bar.

Health codes and requirements are in place to ensure that when you go to a salad bar, people can’t sneeze, drool or spit on the food being served.

Sneeze guards keep restaurants up to code and ensure your safety, too. When trying to find the right sneeze guard for your needs, consider:

• Adjustments: Can the glass and height be adjusted? Different health codes have different requirements on the distance of the glass as well as the height and position of the glass. If adjustments can’t be made, ensure the glass is the proper height.
• Thickness: The proper glass thickness is important, too. Make sure you consider the thickness, and purchase a model that meets local city and state requirements.
• Glass Edges: The type of glass edge is important, too. Rounded corners add safety to the glass and reduce the risk of injuries caused by sharp corners. Thicker glass around the corners will add to the durability and quality of the sneeze guard.

If you keep these points in mind, you’ll have an easier time comparing different sneeze guards.

Reviews of Our Picks for Best Bar Guards

BSI XG3600 XGuard Brushed – TheXG3600 is an adjustable, portable market guard that’s made with aluminum and weighs 25 pounds. This model’s dimensions are 47” L x 18” W x 18” H. This portable sneeze guard is easy to assemble, and it’s NSF listed.

Users have the comfort of three-dimension adjustability with the XGuard.

The glass offers 10” adjustment to meet local health codes. The glass can be moved back and forth. The posts are 4” away from customers to allow for greater space between users and food. The height can be adjusted without tools or knobs.

Glass is available in 1/4”, 3/8” and 1/2” thicknesses. Each glass pane can be moved independently for greater diversity.

Buffet Enhancements 24 Inch Portable Table Top Sneeze Guard – Buffet Enhancement offers a 24” portable table top sneeze guard that’s easy to assemble and highly portable. This model is made from plexi glass and offers a powder coated steel construction. A table top model, this unit also comes in a 36” model if needed.

Shields and legs stack neatly for easy storage, and four thumb screws keep the unit in place.

The weight of the unit is just 8 pounds, and the plastic shields are 1/4” in thickness.  The opening clearance is 16,” while the leg height is a generous 28”. The depth is 15” and the width of the shield is 19”.

This is a great, personal sneeze guard that can also be used in commercial settings.

BSI ZG9600 ZGuard Brushed Aluminum Portable Market Guard – BSI also offers the ZG9600 with brushed aluminum. This model offers an impeccable height of 18”, and the length is 35”. The overall width is a generous 18”. Commercial-grade aluminum is used in the guard’s construction to ensure durability and a lightweight design.

This model is NSF listed, and there are two levels of adjustability.

An adjustable food shield system is in place. The thickness of the tempered glass is 1/4,” while the corners feature 1” radius, square glass. This is a good choice for single self-service. Smaller commercial outfits that need to stay up to code will find the ZG9600 to be a good choice.

Buffet Enhancements Portable 75 Inch Folding Sneeze Guard – Buffer Enhancements offers a portable sneeze guard that folds up to less than 4” to offer the utmost in portability, and it spans a wide 75.” This model comes in two additional sizes: 50” and 25.”

Acrylic shields are used on both sides of the unit, and a stainless steel finish ensures corrosion resistance.

This is an end-to-end model meant for large applications. The unit’s weight is just under 50 pounds, and the shields can extend from either side of the buffet table to cover multiple buffet lines at one time.

This unit’s large size makes it suited for large buffets and commercial usage.

BSI ZG9600 ZGuard Brushed Aluminum Portable Guard – This version of the ZG9600 is exactly like the previous version we reviewed, but this model doesn’t have the same length. This unit is slightly smaller, with dimensions of 18” H x 23” L x 18” width.

The length of this model is meant for smaller applications, but the same great quality is used in this model, too.

Aluminum is used in the construction of the ZG9600. There are two dimensions of adjustability, and the unit is NSF listed. Easy to assemble, this guard weighs just 15 pounds. The centerline has a maximum of 54.”

This is an elegant, small buffet table sneeze guard.

Buyer’s Guide –  How to Choose the Right Buffet Sneeze Guard for You

Buffet tables are fun, exciting and filled with food. Often left out in the open, keeping the food germ-free is nearly impossible, but germs can be lessened with the use of a sneeze guard. The type of guard you need will depend on your uses.

A small catering company is less likely to need guards that are as large as those in a commercial indoor buffet.

If you want to be able to choose the right sneeze guard for you, we recommend considering the following before making your purchase:

• Size: What size does your sneeze guard need to be? The size should accommodate the size of the table where the food is stored, and more accurately, the size of the food trays that hold the food.
• Glass Type: The type of glass makes a big difference for a few reasons. Traditional glass is heavy and expensive, and acrylic glass panes are lightweight and cheap. The quality difference is in favor of acrylic, as the material has higher impact strength. Scratches occur more easily on acrylic due to the surface being softer.
• Price: The price of a sneeze guard can be affordable, or if the guard is long and meant for commercial usage, it can be rather high. If you’re looking to buy a sneeze guard for your own personal use, make a budget before looking at any model. Commercial outfits should worry more about quality and size than price.

If you keep these points in mind, you’ll have an easier time finding the right buffet sneeze guard for you.