FDA Cites Denver Airline Caterer For Roaches, Bacteria

[Auggie]

Source: npr.org

With airlines charging $4 for a tiny container of crackers and cheese these days, we're not sure who's buying in-cabin meals and snacks anymore.

But the Food and Drug Administration just gave us another reason to think twice about a purchase: nasty conditions in a Denver kitchen preparing an average of 35,000 meals a day for airlines ranging from American to United.

We can sum up the findings in the LSG SkyChefs facility a few months back with a four-letter abbreviation used to describe the roaches and other insects found there: TNTC.

That stands for Too Numerous To Count. Yikes!

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/12/fda_cites_denver_airline_cater.html

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On edit: Inspectors also found evidence of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a cause of serious foodborne illness.

[bluevoter4life]

1. Already sent to the major airlines

Hopefully the flying public will catch wind of this and demand an explanation. I understand the airlines have nothing to do with the operation of an outside business, but since no airline has canceled any order as of yet, that is a reflection of the business practices of the company.

[Auggie]

3. I imagine airlines have been squeezing them on pricing though

And I can see that leading to all sorts of cost cutting on behalf of caterers...

• Managers/staff untrained in food safety
• Inferior quality of food items
• Less personnel available for clean-up/sanitation
• Higher refrigeration temperatures and cooler hot water temperatures

Just to name a few

Our corporate culture: making money at the expense of human well-being.

[Neecy]

12. The airlines actually do have something to do with them

I was a station manager and I visited my flight kitchen a couple of times a quarter. You're paying them for a service and you have an obligation to your passengers to do the occasional walk-through. Of course, with the cutbacks in the industry now there probably isn't time to check in with your suppliers as much, but I find it hard to believe that not one LSG customer at Denver went into that kitchen. That's pretty bad.

[Ian David]

2. Damn socialist FDA. Maybe people WANT to eat bug shit when they travel? n/t

[msongs]

4. our yard lizards eat cockroaches. maybe we're missing out on a food source? nt

[8 track mind]

5. I work out at DFW airport

The turn over rate for LSG skychef is freaking HIGH. You never see the same people twice and there are frequent safety incidents out on the ramp, or the AOA (aircraft operations area). The best incident so far is an LSG driver going across two active runways. The FAA was not pleased....

DFW has it's own little newspaper and they are constantly advertising for drivers. The rate of pay? $8.00 per hour.


We refer to them as LSD Skyshift, because they drive like they are on drugs....

[Auggie]

6. $8.00 an hour... under $2000 a month gross n/t

[8 track mind]

7. No joke, $8.00 an hour

Next time i go out there i will grab one of those papers and scan it. LSG treats them like shit.

[ladywnch]

8. and LSG probably thinks they're doing them a favor at $8.00/hr. n/t

[8 track mind]

10. exactly! n/t

[pitohui]

9. nobody's buying the meals, but they also cater the first class cabins

let's just say that for some time now i have refused the cut-up fruit bowl and the uncooked salads

my traveling companion sometimes eats my raw fruits/veggies in first class and he hasn't died yet but frankly i just don't see it

i don't think denver is the only place i've seen skychef either, i'm just saying

if they have roaches in a cold place like that, god help us all!!!

[dembotoz]

11. so all the jokes about airline food are true???

perhaps the largest improvement in airline safety is that they do not serve that many meals anymore.
we should I guess thank them go going to the tiny bag of pretzels instead of a meal.

[Auggie]

13. I eat before I get on the plane...

No way I'm touching that gruel