Half Of NYC School Kitchens, Canteens Have Pests Like Rats, Flies, Roaches

Approximately half of New York City (NYC) school cafeterias which were scrutinized by health officers in 2017 were found to have at least one serious health code violation, according to a report by journalism students from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism on Wednesday.

The report which was published on CUNY’s NY City News website stated the report was made by analyzing the data from New York City Health Department which was accessed through the NYC’s freedom of information law.

The analysis discovered that around 700 school cafeterias out of 1400 which were inspected by health officials last year got at least one critical violation which signaled toward issues that could result in foodborne diseases.

The report also stated that the health officials found two violations on an average per visit to the school cafeterias. Some of the schools didn’t receive any violations but others got more violations which led to an increase in the average.

Pauliina Siniauer, 36, who co-authored the report said: “ It’s a health risk. Critical violations can get kids sick,” New York Daily News reported.

“We found that kids were vomiting and ... getting sick from the food,” added Siniauer.

The CUNY School of Journalism report stated that on March. 20, 2017, a city health inspector found live cockroaches and around 600 mice droppings in the Public School 398 in Brooklyn.

In another instance, at Middle School 137, Queens, a city health official discovered around 1500 flies in the kitchen. The school was allotted two days to rectify the error by cleaning the place and placing the food in rat-proof containers. When a health official arrived for a recheck five days later, the place looked better than last time, however, he still found flies around the kitchen area. Two more days were given to the school to fix the situation and on the third day, the issue was solved.

NYC council member, Ben Kallos, whose proposed bill calling for transparency in the food menus in school was passed in December last year said, “First, we need to make sure that the food is available. Then we need to make sure it’s safe.”

He further stated: “And we need to do a better job of supporting workers in these conditions and making sure our facilities are taking care of any types of pests attracted by food .”

Angel Rosario, 17, a student of Urban Assembly Bronx Academy in Mott Haven said that he felt nauseated after eating mozzarella sticks from the school canteen and that he was diagnosed with food poisoning after he visited a doctor, a report stated.

Rosario, who is now a senior student at the academy, said: “I used to just sit there and wait until lunch is over.”

“Sometimes I didn’t eat, I waited till I got home. It made my stomach hurt, and made me go home cranky,” he added.

Samara Henry, another senior from the same academy, said: “The school lunch slogan is ‘feed your mind,’ and I feel like if anything, we’re not feeding our minds.”

“It’s a bunch of crap that is actually going into our system which makes us sick at the end of the day,” she added.

This report came after the city started to offer free meals at school, a program which is named, “Free Lunch for All.”

The plan was announced in September 2017 by NYC schools chancellor Carmen Farina, city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and public advocate Leticia James.