Fewer than What?

In this morning's Boston Globe, I found the folowing sentence:

Nationwide, fewer than a handful of states routinely allow people to use translators to take the written driving test because of concerns for public safety, said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License, a Washington-based nonprofit that favors strong standards for licenses to prevent terrorism, crime, and identity theft.

Leaving aside the issue of the length of the sentence, I was bothered by the phrase "fewer than a handful of states." "Fewer" is correct there, since "states" are countable, but how can one have fewer than a metaphorical handful? There are better ways to say the same thing: very few states; a small number of states; only [n] states; and others.