California Wants Cleaner Quick-Service Playgrounds

Ketchup and monkey bars are a potent mix for germs. Widespread publicity about allegedly unsanitary slides and tunnels at some of the nation’s fast-food playgrounds has led the California State Assembly to approve a bill expanding food-safety laws to cover the indoor and outdoor playgrounds.

Under the bill, restaurants would be required to post signs informing customers that food is not allowed on play structures and to provide inquiring adults with copies of playground inspection and cleaning plans.

The bill’s sponsor says it was prompted by research showing that restaurant playgrounds can be breeding grounds for illness-causing bacteria and are not always well-maintained. Fortnightly first covered this story last August.

AB1513 passed 42-22 and awaits debate in the Senate.”””