As the Food Service Director of South Bay Union School District, I would have appreciated the opportunity to comment on this issue prior to publishing. I fear that this article does a great injustice to our school, and the great employees who provide hundreds of safe, nutritious meals each day.
I would have asked the author and investigators to seek out documented follow-up actions, or to allow facilities to insert their response, particularly those listed under the "Seven stomach-churners" sidebar.
On behalf of South Bay Elementary School, I can assure every reader that we have a safe and clean kitchen. In the quoted report, it is noted that South Bay Elementary has a documented preventative service contract with a professional pest control company. This service is performed monthly and was in place long before the inspection took place. I would have welcomed the opportunity to share many of the successes that we’ve had here at South Bay Elementary and the many thousands of dollars in repairs and upgrades that we’ve performed over the past several years. Given the opportunity, I would have also pointed out that like other schools in Humboldt County, we require every cafeteria employee to maintain a current food safety certification.
I hope that the Journal would consider the implications of publishing a one-sided report, such as those listed in your article, and that you would avoid the temptations of exploiting the potential shock value of any given topic.
Mason Clark, Food Service Director,
South Bay Union School District
2 likes, 1 dislike
Posted by
Mason Clark
on 05/16/2011 at 2:02 PM
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Re: “Queasy Eats”
As the Food Service Director of South Bay Union School District, I would have appreciated the opportunity to comment on this issue prior to publishing. I fear that this article does a great injustice to our school, and the great employees who provide hundreds of safe, nutritious meals each day. I would have asked the author and investigators to seek out documented follow-up actions, or to allow facilities to insert their response, particularly those listed under the "Seven stomach-churners" sidebar.
On behalf of South Bay Elementary School, I can assure every reader that we have a safe and clean kitchen. In the quoted report, it is noted that South Bay Elementary has a documented preventative service contract with a professional pest control company. This service is performed monthly and was in place long before the inspection took place. I would have welcomed the opportunity to share many of the successes that we’ve had here at South Bay Elementary and the many thousands of dollars in repairs and upgrades that we’ve performed over the past several years. Given the opportunity, I would have also pointed out that like other schools in Humboldt County, we require every cafeteria employee to maintain a current food safety certification. I hope that the Journal would consider the implications of publishing a one-sided report, such as those listed in your article, and that you would avoid the temptations of exploiting the potential shock value of any given topic.
Mason Clark, Food Service Director, South Bay Union School District