Hank Investigates: Dirty Cafeterias

Caroline Smith DeWaal, Center for Science in the Public Interest
"Parents should be concerned."

Whats more, our four-month investigation proves in the six cities we examined school cafeterias have not been inspected as the law requires!

DeWaal
"Kids are being put at risk by food handling practices like that."

At Worcester schools, inspection reports reveal outdated dairy products, food not at proper temperatures, and rodent activity.

Worcester Inspector
"Who's in charge today?"

On this inspection: what looks like rodent droppings in the storage room.

Hank
"What's your bottom line here?"

Inspector
"I'm going to tell them to get this cleaned up."

As for Cambridge and Boston school kitchens: we were not allowed inside! But inspection reports we obtained show a pattern of unsanitary conditions: poisoning hazards, insects in the food, mice.

And though some schools scored a perfect 100, we found half of Boston schools failed their last inspection!

Hank
"Here's a school that gets a 78, a 69, a 78..."

What's more, a third of Boston schools have had a rodent or roach problem! Boston school officials admit that's news to them.

Helen Mont-Ferguson, Boston Public Schools
"It concerns me; it concerns me just as if my house had any of those things in them."

In fact, illness reports reveal hundreds of kids have already gotten sick in Massachusetts school cafeterias, including a huge outbreak at five schools in Wellesley. But here's the rest of the story: we found that year those five Wellesley schools had not been inspected.

DeWaal
"Rather than counting up the victims after they occur, we should be sending inspectors out to make sure we never have food poisoning outbreaks in school cafeterias."

Wellesley now does inspect twice a year, as the law requires. And our examination of Belmont also shows schools there are now inspected on schedule.

But here's a headline for parents: the four other cities we checked continue to break the law.

In Cambridge, schools are inspected once a year or less.

In Boston, schools are inspected just once a year.

We wanted to talk with city inspectors, but they never responded. Now school officials also want an explanation.

Hank
"How well is the system working?"

Mont-Ferguson
"I'm not sure."

And in Worcester some schools have not been inspected at all for years.

Frank Birch, Worcester Health Department
"I can't give you an excuse or an explanation now for why they weren't done in the past."

Worcester officials admit their record-keeping was so bad they didn't realize how many schools were being neglected.

Hank
"So who knew they weren't being inspected?"

Birch
"Only you."

But here in Brockton the number of school inspections is a mystery. Officials insist their inspection system works perfectly.

Hank
"How often are school cafeterias inspected by the Board of Health?"

Louis Tartaglia, Brockton Board of Health
"At least twice a year."

But we found virtually the only records of school inspections there were those done after we asked to look at the files! The explanation? City officials, who would only be interviewed with their own camera rolling, said they threw the other reports away.

Hank
"So you're telling me I just have to believe you did them?"

Tartaglia
"You have to believe me."

We showed the reports to state health officials.

Official
"Very interesting very interesting."

The Department of Public Health officials is now reviewing the Brockton records.

Nancy Ridley, Department of Public Health
"I think someone needs to talk to Brockton."

But generally, until there's a problem, there's no state oversight, and that means parents simply have to hope their school cafeterias aren't serving up trouble.

DeWaal
"It really raises questions of who's in charge."

As a direct result of our story the school superintendent and the mayor of Brockton have ordered immediate changes in their school inspection system, and in Worcester, health officials now promise every school there will be inspected at least twice a year.

If you'd like to check on your child's cafeteria, inspection reports should be kept in your local health department.

If you're not allowed to look at them, let me know.