Kansas Prisons Respond to Food-Safety Violations: 'The Food Is So Processed, There's Not Really a Risk'
In the course of its 19-month investigation into Kansas prison cafeterias, the state Department of Corrections found "filthy" kitchens, light-fixtures full of bugs, and cooking staff that refused to wash their hands or wear gloves.
In nearly 340 inspections between January 2013 and July 2014, inspectors found the same violations and noncompliance month after month, according to a new report. A few entries from inspections of the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex in Topeka:
"Three persons seen licking fingers and continuing to work" — May 2013
"Gloves worn to handle bread and meat patties used to touch face and pick item up off floor and touch door handles" —April 2014
But Jeremy Barclay, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections, has a handy explanation for why this shouldn't concern anyone: the food being served is barely food anyway! "The food is so processed, there's not really a food safety risk," Barclay told the Topeka Capital-Journal.