Just-arrived House restaurants handler Sodexo appears to have already rubbed at least one congressional diner the wrong way due to a concern about food-handling practices.  

The French-born hospitality conglomerate Monday formally assumed control of all House dining operations, replacing outgoing food-service vendor Restaurant Associates.  

Mere hours into the transition, a tipster searching the Rayburn Café for sustenance told HOH he overheard a Sodexo manager instruct staff to gloss up the apples by giving them a once over with commercial cleaning cloths. Sodexo general manager Matthew Galo firmly brushed aside any notion of impropriety.  

“We do not use pretreated wipes,” the Rayburn building administrator assured HOH. He indicated that staff does carry two types of disposable wipes (one pink and one white; no word on what the difference is between the two), but stressed that tampering with comestibles is verboten.  

“We don’t add any type of chemical to our food items, hand fruit or otherwise,” Galo stated in an email.  

Bringing out the natural luster of featured items, however, is one of the tricks of the trade.  

“A quick buff on the apples gives them a natural shine that is appealing to the eye for some,” he explained.  

Related: Sodexo Takes Over the House Farewell My Indigestion: Bidding Adieu to Restaurant Associates The Creamery Lives on as Hill Networking App See photos, follies, HOH Hits and Misses and more at Roll Call’s new video site. Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call in your inbox or on your iPhone.