Westford School District Food Found Stored Alongside Rodent Droppings

School officials have made a startling discovery in Westford, Mass. An investigation found that all frozen food for the school district was being stored in a facility infested with rodents and insects, WHDH-TV reports.

In the old building, nicknamed "the barn," officials found that boxes containing frozen food, lunch trays and other cafeteria items were covered in animal feces and urine.

According to My Fox Boston, some bags of food had been chewed through by rats. Meanwhile, other boxes were past their expiration date.

After the appalling health violations came to light, the Westford school board voted to discard all of the food and other items being stored in "the barn." An estimated $10,000 worth will be thrown out.

Frozen food and other lunch supplies will now be stored on-site at each of the district's 10 schools.

WATCH:

Comments

[mikey09]

03:22 PM on 04/04/2011

Now this is impossible, a high tax, blue state does not have these problems......:-)

[Dianne Starkey]

08:05 AM on 03/31/2011

The school lunch program is a federal program from the USDA. It is supervised in the State by MA DESE, Health, Safety and Nutrition Services. all school lunch programs are reviewed by this division on the state level. When was the last time Boston and Westford school lunch programs were reviewed? Food storage and sanitation is a huge part of the review. What happened that put children at risk?

[4everGG]

01:53 AM on 03/31/2011

The title of this article is almost blindingly stupid. So the district is storing rat poop and keeping those containers next to the kids' food? Really?

Why not:
"School District Food Stored in Unsanitary Facility"
"Rat Droppings Found in District Food Warehouse"
"Leptospirosis, Anyone?: Worries Over Rat Infestation in School Food Warehouse"

Any one of these would provide a clearer picture of the issue than the title HP chose.

[Fran Jaime]

02:41 AM on 03/31/2011

Maybe they store the rat droppings and were disgusted that the food contaminated them! LOL

[Bushido08]

07:41 PM on 03/30/2011

Ok, who cut the budget on storage of food for schools in MA?

[steelol]

07:25 PM on 03/30/2011

Uh oh, I bet now Michelle Obama is going to tell us we can't eat macaroni and mice anymore! Well SCREW HER!

[planetjeffy]

07:10 PM on 03/30/2011

it is part of the republican "jobs for mice" program

[debbiejoy]

06:56 PM on 03/30/2011

What's wrong with that? Gosh, people just need to get over it. I have rat droppings with my frozen meals all the time. and I am just fine!

[Danilo-11]

06:40 PM on 03/30/2011

The title should be "School lunches in a libertarian World"

[nevernot]

06:38 PM on 03/30/2011

And the republicans want to cut funding to schools by any means possible and put the children to work.... Way to go GOP, glad you have your priorities straight. What ever happened to "promote the general welfare", it's in the constitution, your favorite piece of paper...

[Abby1]

06:34 PM on 03/30/2011

Initially when I saw the headline, I thought this occurred in a third world nation. This is absolutely horrible that a school district in this country (or anywhere) would store food in these deplorable conditions.

[Pagoas]

06:14 PM on 03/30/2011

they're all just underprivileged kids anyway... so this... this is working out very well for them. besides, if their parents really cared about them they'd home school them with a liberty university graduate or send them to a private school.

[AndyRobot]

09:33 AM on 04/02/2011

Actually, Westford's a solidly upper-middle class suburb. God forbid this happen *anywhere*, but if this kind of thing is happening in the "good" public schools...

[TheN8tureBoy]

06:02 PM on 03/30/2011

BLUE STATE!!

[Danilo-11]

06:53 PM on 03/30/2011

Actually, based on all the rightwing pundits Massachusetts officially became a red state after they elected Republican senator Scott Brown.

[blacksmithn]

07:38 PM on 03/30/2011

Good point.

[bmora]

05:54 PM on 03/30/2011

but I's need ma tax break.

[Independent Follower]

05:52 PM on 03/30/2011

The question is why was this food stored at this location, just a suggestion, you got the who, what when and where part down. To me is doesn't quite make sense why this food would initially be stored off site away from the schools they were intended for.

[mapleaforever]

05:51 PM on 03/30/2011

I don't see the problem. Frogs do just fine eating bugs.