Boston Schools Cafeteria Investigation Reveals Expired Food From 2009

Boston City Councilor John Connolly chose four random public schools in the city for a surprise cafeteria inspection. What he found horrified Boston residents.

School kitchens had expired foods still stocked, some from 2009, WHDH News reports. However, the food products, such as beef and cheese, that were being used were kept frozen.

The expired frozen foods may not be making children sick, but what are students getting out of their school lunches?

According to The Boston Globe, Connolly explained,

"We're not talking about salmonella and E. coli. But we are talking about food that has likely lost much of its nutritional value."

WATCH:

Comments

[McHale Ann Haiman]

04:34 AM on 03/05/2011

I eat "expired" food in my home all the time. They just put dates on there so you will buy more. ;) But hey, I also eat things that I drop on the floor.

[Francois Bergeron]

02:15 PM on 03/04/2011

That food or whatever you want to call it, has probably morphed into something that might be quite nutritional. Alive even.

[Gregory Mundy]

12:02 PM on 03/04/2011

Any details as to whether the expired foodstuffs were in affluent vs. poorer school districts? Let me guess...

[AmericanLeslie]

06:15 AM on 03/07/2011

that's exactly what I was wondering

[DreadNattyDreadlock]

11:30 AM on 03/04/2011

It's important to note that this is primarily a leadership problem in the school department. The cafeteria line workers have little control over the menus they serve and the commodity entitlement foods they receive from USDA - those decisions are made centrally by management. Given the "indefinite" length of time frozen food can be kept, this is not a story about public safety/nutrition per se, but rather about transparency, respect for students, and responsible stewardship of public tax dollars by BPS Food Services.

Cafeteria line workers deserve a work environment where they can be proud of their contribution to student achievement and health - not pilloried for being placed in a situation where they must serve freezer-burned mush to our most vulnerable kids year after year.

As an investment in our collective futures, students deserve the best we can offer them - nutritious and tasty school meals (that they will actually consume!) to not only fuel their academic performance, but educate them on making healthier lifelong choices. This will ultimately benefit our society in myriad ways, not to mention lower all of our health insurance premiums.

And we, the people, deserve transparency and accountability from our public sector officials who are entrusted to make choices (with our money) on our behalf.

Unfortunately, we don't always get what we deserve, and my sinking suspicion is that neither will those responsible in this case.

[G E H]

11:26 AM on 03/04/2011

"We're not talking about salmonella and E. coli. But we are talking about food that has likely lost much of its nutritional value."

In 1999, I visited a public school in MA as part of my job. The cafeteria contained windows for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Subway (complete with logos). There was also a deli counter for sandwiches made with lunchmeat, and a window for the subsidized hot meal of the day. I sat in that cafeteria for a half hour eating my lunch and watching the lines. The first four windows (KFC, PH, TB, and SW) had long lines. The deli counter had a few takers. I didn't see a single student enter the hot food line.

I don't know if this situation still exists in MA (or other states), but if it does, it may explain why food is expiring on the shelves. When schools invite purveyors of junk food into the cafeterias, students will naturally flock to those rather than the flavorless, tepid, engineered "nutritional" lunches paid for with tax dollars.

If you're looking for something to fix in school lunches, it might be a good idea to get the junk food corporations off the premises. Then maybe the kids will bring their own lunches or buy the nutritional ones offered by the school. Then maybe that food won't sit on the shelf until it expires.

[Francois Bergeron]

02:16 PM on 03/04/2011

The eedjits who authorized this probably had some silly argument like they got money from the restaurants.
They should be fired and ridiculed in public.

[florida native]

07:44 AM on 03/04/2011

Now I know where those green hot dogs came from 40 years ago!!

[Francois Bergeron]

02:17 PM on 03/04/2011

Do you still have them?

[Spock]

07:52 PM on 03/03/2011

I've been noticing some grocery stores keeping expired food on the shelves.

[Francois Bergeron]

02:17 PM on 03/04/2011

Sure, why not. Better let some inattentive parent buy it than throw it away.
Most people (me included) would never notice.

[Christopher Bowen]

05:56 PM on 03/03/2011

Someone can correct me if my memory is shot, but didn't Reagan try to classify ketchup as a vegetable found in school lunches? In any event, try balancing budgets on the backs of kids and we will definitely see more of this. I recently read that a direct result was found between schools that fed their students on testing days and improvement. Hunger or poor nutrition or both can really hurt kids. And that's a disgrace. Hunger shouldn't be the deciding factor in a child's education.

Chris Bowen
http://teacher2teacher.lacoe.edu/a-fresh-dreamer.aspx

[WhatDaBleep]

05:17 PM on 03/03/2011

Of course! That's the republican way - don't throw old food away - feed it to your kids.

[bronzehorse]

08:37 PM on 03/03/2011

No, feed it to someone else's kids - preferably poor kids. THEIR kids get only the best.

[Francois Bergeron]

02:18 PM on 03/04/2011

Zing!!!

[Changa Fea]

08:37 PM on 03/03/2011

True. But with one amendment -- feed it to other people's kids. This is the GOP saying keep those po' chillens hungry and ignorant. Then maybe they will stay in their place, working for nothing back on the plantation.

[rbchilds]

05:06 PM on 03/03/2011

This isn't about school funding or politics. This is about people in positions at school cafeterias not doing their jobs. The managers should be fired and an extensive training program given to the workers, maybe couple a reading class for them also.

[posttime2010]

04:58 PM on 03/03/2011

Why are they hoarding? Why didn't they use the stuff, sounds like very poor planning and inventory practices.

[cyoohoos]

05:32 AM on 03/04/2011

That was my take on this. Who is in charge of inventory that you can't plan better than this? Or was it just old when it came in the door and nobody noticed?

[comment from grandpa]

07:58 AM on 03/04/2011

Buy low,sell high.............maybe?

[etiennemacchias]

04:47 PM on 03/03/2011

It still amazes how those privileged few convince those who are not quite so fortunate into chanting with them to cut taxes to cut public school funding. It's just amazing.

If it were up to me, public education would be my number one priority. And collective bargaining unions to represent every teacher in America.

[scat]

05:30 PM on 03/03/2011

Please explain what public funding and collective bargaining even remotely has to do with this?

Rather, it is poor managing, poor inventory control, poor workers that results in waste of funding here.

[etiennemacchias]

08:45 AM on 03/04/2011

Okay, collective bargaining was far fetched. But public funding has to do with the school district's paucity to, one, having to buy food in bulk and, two, having to buy cheap, low-grade food for our kids. If they had sufficient funds, they can purchase what they need, not only the cafeteria food but also school supplies and highly qualified teachers, as they become necessary.

And you gotta give more credits to the school employees than that. Poor workers? C'mon. I'm sure they don't deliberately do what they do to ensure the malnourishment of our kids.

[marknez21]

11:49 PM on 03/03/2011

Fire all managers.

[etiennemacchias]

08:46 AM on 03/04/2011

And hire qualified managers with whose money?

[paddy523]

04:43 PM on 03/03/2011

"WIcked Retaaarted"

[citizenEP]

04:41 PM on 03/03/2011

Frozen fruits and vegetables have a near indefinite lifetime. In fact, there are many studies that show frozen fruits and vegetables are actually more nutritious than fresh. Frozen meat is more risky. If it is deep frozen (zero degrees) it can last for a very long time, losing nothing more than flavor and texture. However, if it is frozen at higher temps, or if the freezer temp fluctuates enough that some thaw occurs and then it re-freezes, bacteria can become a hazard, in addition to really destroying the texture of the meat. Frozen bread can definitely still mold, it'll just happen more slowly.

Dairy products aside, expiration dates on items that are sold frozen are really more a marketing thing than a health and safety thing.

[Joseph Joyal]

04:40 PM on 03/03/2011

Walmart sells food that expired in 2009 and winn-dixie.... when you can buy it for your home and no one cares want do you expect from schools that have their budgets reduced even in good times.

[G E H]

11:14 AM on 03/04/2011

Excellent point. Maybe the schools are buying from wal-mart to make their already thin budgets stretch a little farther - just like everyone else who shops at wal-mart.