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Airline food inspections show some unsanitary conditions
Some airline food has the potential to crash and burn in travelers' stomachs, inspection reports suggest.
Live roaches, signs of mice and flies at some caterers' kitchens were found during inspections by the Food and Drug Administration. Other findings include preparers not washing their hands, dirty equipment and food not stored at the right temperature.
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Airline food inspections show some unsanitary conditions
He said that whenever he flies now, he'll take his own snacks and extra sanitizer to wipe down soda cans and snack wrappers.
The last two years of inspections for the three major airline caterers, LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet and Flying Food Group, were obtained by USA Today. The caterers provide more than 100 million meals yearly for most big airlines, including Delta, American and United. The companies said safety is of utmost importance and they have already taken care of deficiencies or are working on them.
FDA inspectors visited the 91 kitchens operated by the caterers and found suspected food-preparation violations or bad practices in 27 kitchens.
In one case, an inspector saw a live mouse and rodent feces under a pallet of food and in other areas at an LSG Sky Chefs kitchen.
Sky Chefs in Oklahoma City closed about a decade ago. City-county health officials remember it as a clean, well-run business, but it did get an FDA warning letter in 1996 for violations such as potentially hazardous food stored at the wrong temperature, debris on equipment and a too cool final rinse in the dishwasher.
At the company's Denver location some six months ago, inspectors noted live roaches and "too numerous to count” cockroach carcasses, though the consumer protection director with the Oklahoma Health Department, Tressa Madden, said the presence of carcasses indicates the insects were being sprayed.
Noroviruses can be a common issue whenever food is prepared under unsanitary conditions, Madden said. The viruses are highly contagious and responsible for up to 50 percent of all food-borne outbreaks and about 23 million illnesses yearly.
Cold foods such as salads and sandwiches are especially risky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
Sky Chefs also got cited over listeria, a hardy bacterium found under unsanitary conditions, inappropriate food temperatures or buggy conditions.
"Listeria is kind of a nasty bugger,” said Mike Rockey, Oklahoma City-County Health Department senior environmental specialist. He recalled that a local lunch meat company had to dump about 18 semitrailer loads of meat at a landfill when listeria was discovered several years ago.
The listeria infection can cause a mild illness but also can lead to early delivery in pregnant women, stillbirths and fetal infections, as well as renal problems in people with deficient immune systems.
Sky Chef didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gate Gourmet said the company has retained an independent auditor, is monitoring operating procedures and taking other measures. It said the goal is meeting or exceeding food safety regulations daily.
Flying Food Group said the company has already replaced an ice machine with a corroded door at a Los Angeles location. And a $32 million catering facility has replaced the former JFK Airport facility in New York that resulted in a violation 10 years ago.
Along with FDA inspections, American Airlines operates its own kitchen evaluation program and conducts unannounced inspections of their caterers, the airlines said in a statement.
Meals are not loaded onto airliners in Oklahoma because of the decline several years ago in long-haul flights from here, said Will Rogers World Airport spokeswoman Karen Carney.
International flights and flights out of hubs in bigger cities are a different matter. Frequent flier Joshua Harlow of Oklahoma City said the issues in inspections may be isolated incidents, though he may watch what he eats onboard a little more closely.
"But because of this report it'll probably be the safest food you'll ever eat now,” Harlow said.
Madden said she never accepts soft drinks on airplanes because she sees attendants pour drinks and then pick up trash apparently without ever washing their hands.
She recommends travelers eat whatever is prepackaged but to avoid raw foods such as fresh fruit or vegetables. If hot food is lukewarm, it should be sent back and reheated. She said she prefers to eat before she boards a plane and keep the receipts for documentation, should she become ill.
Madden said any Oklahoman who suffers significant gastrointestinal sickness after flying may call the acute disease service at the state Health Department at 271-4060.
State health departments and the FDA can use travelers' calls to investigate whether airline food might have caused the problem and take appropriate measures.
Experts say it can take from a couple of hours to a couple of days before symptoms of a food borne illness develop. But there are sometimes some tipoffs.
"If you notice something off-flavor or off-odor, ask for a different meal,” or fill up on packaged snacks, Rockey said. "Don't think it will be all right.”
http://www.newsok.com/airline-food-...icle/3472055?custom_click=pod_headline_health
Airline food inspections show some unsanitary conditions
Some airline food has the potential to crash and burn in travelers' stomachs, inspection reports suggest.
Live roaches, signs of mice and flies at some caterers' kitchens were found during inspections by the Food and Drug Administration. Other findings include preparers not washing their hands, dirty equipment and food not stored at the right temperature.
Multimedia
Photoview all photos
Airline food inspections show some unsanitary conditions
He said that whenever he flies now, he'll take his own snacks and extra sanitizer to wipe down soda cans and snack wrappers.
The last two years of inspections for the three major airline caterers, LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet and Flying Food Group, were obtained by USA Today. The caterers provide more than 100 million meals yearly for most big airlines, including Delta, American and United. The companies said safety is of utmost importance and they have already taken care of deficiencies or are working on them.
FDA inspectors visited the 91 kitchens operated by the caterers and found suspected food-preparation violations or bad practices in 27 kitchens.
In one case, an inspector saw a live mouse and rodent feces under a pallet of food and in other areas at an LSG Sky Chefs kitchen.
Sky Chefs in Oklahoma City closed about a decade ago. City-county health officials remember it as a clean, well-run business, but it did get an FDA warning letter in 1996 for violations such as potentially hazardous food stored at the wrong temperature, debris on equipment and a too cool final rinse in the dishwasher.
At the company's Denver location some six months ago, inspectors noted live roaches and "too numerous to count” cockroach carcasses, though the consumer protection director with the Oklahoma Health Department, Tressa Madden, said the presence of carcasses indicates the insects were being sprayed.
Noroviruses can be a common issue whenever food is prepared under unsanitary conditions, Madden said. The viruses are highly contagious and responsible for up to 50 percent of all food-borne outbreaks and about 23 million illnesses yearly.
Cold foods such as salads and sandwiches are especially risky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
Sky Chefs also got cited over listeria, a hardy bacterium found under unsanitary conditions, inappropriate food temperatures or buggy conditions.
"Listeria is kind of a nasty bugger,” said Mike Rockey, Oklahoma City-County Health Department senior environmental specialist. He recalled that a local lunch meat company had to dump about 18 semitrailer loads of meat at a landfill when listeria was discovered several years ago.
The listeria infection can cause a mild illness but also can lead to early delivery in pregnant women, stillbirths and fetal infections, as well as renal problems in people with deficient immune systems.
Sky Chef didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gate Gourmet said the company has retained an independent auditor, is monitoring operating procedures and taking other measures. It said the goal is meeting or exceeding food safety regulations daily.
Flying Food Group said the company has already replaced an ice machine with a corroded door at a Los Angeles location. And a $32 million catering facility has replaced the former JFK Airport facility in New York that resulted in a violation 10 years ago.
Along with FDA inspections, American Airlines operates its own kitchen evaluation program and conducts unannounced inspections of their caterers, the airlines said in a statement.
Meals are not loaded onto airliners in Oklahoma because of the decline several years ago in long-haul flights from here, said Will Rogers World Airport spokeswoman Karen Carney.
International flights and flights out of hubs in bigger cities are a different matter. Frequent flier Joshua Harlow of Oklahoma City said the issues in inspections may be isolated incidents, though he may watch what he eats onboard a little more closely.
"But because of this report it'll probably be the safest food you'll ever eat now,” Harlow said.
Madden said she never accepts soft drinks on airplanes because she sees attendants pour drinks and then pick up trash apparently without ever washing their hands.
She recommends travelers eat whatever is prepackaged but to avoid raw foods such as fresh fruit or vegetables. If hot food is lukewarm, it should be sent back and reheated. She said she prefers to eat before she boards a plane and keep the receipts for documentation, should she become ill.
Madden said any Oklahoman who suffers significant gastrointestinal sickness after flying may call the acute disease service at the state Health Department at 271-4060.
State health departments and the FDA can use travelers' calls to investigate whether airline food might have caused the problem and take appropriate measures.
Experts say it can take from a couple of hours to a couple of days before symptoms of a food borne illness develop. But there are sometimes some tipoffs.
"If you notice something off-flavor or off-odor, ask for a different meal,” or fill up on packaged snacks, Rockey said. "Don't think it will be all right.”
http://www.newsok.com/airline-food-...icle/3472055?custom_click=pod_headline_health