CIDRAP News reports that the use of gloves by fast-food restaurant workers might be expected to result in cleaner food, but that isn’t necessarily the case, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Food Protection.
Testing of flour tortillas bought at about 140 fast-food restaurants in Tulsa, Okla., and Wichita, Kan., showed that those handled by gloved workers were more than twice as likely to have coliform bacteria on them as were those handled by gloveless workers, the report says. However, the number of samples was not large enough to make the difference statistically significant. A finding of coliform bacteria (a general term for intestinal microbes) indicates that pathogenic bacteria could be present.
“Overall, the results of this study suggest that use of gloves by food handlers does not reduce bacterial contamination of foods and might even increase the risk of microbial contamination,” says the report by Robert A. Lynch and colleagues at the University of Oklahoma Department of Occupational and Environmental Health in Oklahoma City.Continue Reading Food handlers’ gloves may not mean cleaner food

From a USA Today report: Fast food’s next better-for-you twist has wings: “natural” chicken.
That’s chicken with no additives. Some say it’s tastier and healthier. It’s certainly pricier. Arby’s is about to announce plans to be the first national fast-food chain to sell only natural chicken. The move comes at a time when chicken of…