27.nov.06
MSNBC
NewsNet5.com—Cleveland, OH
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15927174/
COLUMBIA STATION, Ohio -- Investigator Ron Regan found serious violations of Ohio's health codes at school cafeterias all over the area.
He reviewed inspection records for 765 schools in nine counties. NewsChannel5 found one in 10 schools had health code violations so serious they could cause potentially deadly food borne illnesses.
"After hearing that, it makes me want to pack my daughter's lunch," one parent said.
For example, Regan found food stored at improper temperatures, undated lunch meat and coolers failing to keep milk cold. However, the most common health code violation was dishwashers in 40 schools that were failing to sanitize. The dishwater was not hot enough to kill germs and bacteria.
Health inspector Paul Desario was quoted as saying, "All your plates and utensiles are going into this dish machine. If they are not propertly being cleaned and sanitized, it's not going to kill the pathogens that are on the plates and utensils that the students and all the people use. So improper cleaning of those can spread illness."
In Columbia Station, one of the smallest districts, the elementary, middle and high schools were all cited for dishwashers that failed to sanitize.