Eateries Must Pass Army Base Inspections (Food Security!)

[brooklynite]

FREDERICK, Md. - The Army is watching Vocelli Pizza. It knows where franchise owner Robert Gim keeps the mozzarella and whether his tap water is pure. It checks his burglar alarms and keeps an eye on his cleaning supplies. Food safety has gained a new flavor since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: food security.

Any business seeking to sell food to the military now must pass regular security inspections besides the sanitation checks that have been required for decades.

Gim, whose shop is in a strip mall two blocks from Fort Detrick, considers the quarterly inspections a plus. A letter from the U.S. Army Veterinary Command clearing him to cater events at the installation is proudly posted near the cash register for customers to read.

"It kind of puts it in the back of people's minds that Vocelli might be a little bit more special — that we have standards that might be higher than another food establishment in the area," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060227/ap_on_re_us/pass_the_muster
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You can't be too careful. I ate in a middle eastern restaurant last week, and the lamb kebobs came on metal skewers.