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.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
HOLY FUCK! STOP! HOLD ON!
You mean, you might not want to trust inmates to feed you?
WHO THE FUCK COULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING!?
They should be sent to prison!
"Ah, these mopes is so tough, it'll take more than a little food poisoning to hurt 'em"
/Prison worker rep
Oh god, an inmate union.
That would complete my life. I'd consider suicide right then, cause it just can't get any better than that.
I'd like to see an enterprising attorney bring an Eighth Amendment case against the KDC in light of this report.
"You may try to argue that it's cruel, but it ain't that unusual. Besides, none of them noticed, so how can it be cruel?"
/SCOTUS Oral Argument
" found "filthy" kitchens, light-fixtures full of bugs, and cooking staff that refused to wash their hands or wear gloves."
Look, it these people were good at following rules, they wouldn't be there.
Say what you want about Guantanamo, the food service is better than Kansas.
"Look, it these people were good at following rules, they wouldn't be there."
This made me laugh
"The food is so processed, there's not really a food safety risk,"
I use the same line on my wife all the time when packing cheese and meats for day hikes. Its so ingrained in her that modern people normally keep in the fridge is inedible after its been out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.
Cheese and a lot of sausages were invented specifically because of a lack of reliable refrigeration.
Its so ingrained in her that foods modern people normally keep in the fridge is inedible after its been out of the fridge for more than 2 hours.
WTB edit feature.
"Marge, I need a moment alone with the sandwich."
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.
Then let's see this Barclay fellow and his federal DOC employees eat at that cafeteria three meals per day for a solid month. Seriously, that guy is either an idiot or a mendacious shill.
Because once you remove the (presumably sterile) food from its container it can get cross-contaminated from utensils, hands, serving containers, and bugs dropping in from above.
My aunt makes $73 every hour on the laptop . She has been laid off for 8 months but last month her income was $19059 just working on the laptop for a few hours.
visit the website ????? http://www.jobsfish.com
Who cares, right? Don't prisoners deserve everything they get? Next thing they'll be demanding color TV!
If not for the incredibly high number of people we put in prison for no good reason I wouldn't care, much.
"It's like processed food has so many chemicals in it that at least one of those chemicals has got to be an anti-bacterial."
This Barclay Fuck
First, Gross. Second, has anyone become ill from this?
Jeremy Barclay is one stupid S O B. And a worthless P O S to boot.
http://www.Web-Privacy.tk
Privatize prison kitchens!
Pros: Better employees, increased quality and safety
Cons: Prisoners eat better than schoolchildren
Who would win in a fight? Prison cooks or lunch ladies?
Unless we privatize kitchens AND schools.
Not sure I'll find that many people opposed to either of those in this site.
Oh this is so cute!!
You do realize that at the finest restaurants in the world no one's wearing gloves, right? That people lick fingers, spoons, and even taste foods that have been ordered? All without gloves or sanitizer or anything like that?