A joint venture between a glove manufacturer and a firm that specializes in antimicrobial copper oxide technology has produced a new type of glove for use in food processing operations. Polygenex International, Inc., is combining its sanitary glove manufacturing abilities with materials from Cupron, Inc. to create a glove which, according to Polygenex, features "the widest spectrum anti-microbial technology known today." Cupron’s technology, based on state-of-the-art copper oxides, is incorporated into special yarns and fibers. These fibers exhibit antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. “Gloves incorporating the Cupron technology will alter the safety conscious landscape in food handling, food processing, and healthcare,” says Joseph D. McGarry, president and CEO of Polygenex. “The technology came to us through our colleagues at the NCSU College of Textiles since we previously developed bacteriostatic gloves. We thought our gloves were novel to the market until we learned about the Cupron technology. It’s far superior to anything out there including ours. Consumers are inundated with antibacterial and antimicrobial products, but the new gloves offer special antiviral efficacy in the face of the avian flu scare and other viral contaminations.”