Vermin. Expired food. Contaminated cleaning tools. These are just some of the findings of a Global News investigation into what goes on behind the counters of school cafeterias in Edmonton.
Global News initially requested, through a freedom of information request, inspection reports from Alberta Health Services for all school cafeterias in the city, but was told it would cost thousands of dollars. Instead, we turned to the publicly accessible AHS restaurant inspection database and pulled all the reports we could find on school cafeterias or school cafes. In total, there were roughly 300 reports spanning the last three years for 54 schools in the Edmonton area.
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The inspection reports provide insight into the conditions of a school cafeteria at the time of inspection. In many cases, food violations found were rectified by the follow-up visit. However, food safety experts still say the findings are concerning.
“In schools… you got a captive crowd of young children there who are more susceptible to food borne pathogens than say young adults. The thing is about these institutions like schools is when things go wrong — it’s not like one or two people who get ill — it could be the whole school that gets ill.”
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AHS guidelines state hot foods must be kept either below 4 C or higher than 60 C. Warriner said certain pathogens can flourish when food is not held at the right temperature.
“One is clostridium perfringens. Those big batches of stew take a long time, for example, to cool down and in that time, clostridium perfringens can grow and it can produce toxin and that toxin can give you diarrhea,” he said.
The professor also said that the presence of vermin, like cockroaches and rodents, in a cooking facility is worrisome.
“It goes without saying they are a sign of endemic contamination and also cross-contamination of pathogens like salmonella amongst others,” he said.
“What really it is a signal of is total neglect, and not only neglect over a short period of time, neglect over a very extensive period of time. Cockroaches don’t just turn up one day and infest a kitchen, it takes time.”
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One school cafeteria racked up eight violations within the last three years — the most out of any in Edmonton. Inspection reports for the school found food was not being held at the right temperature, employees were handling their phones with gloves then going back to food handling activities and dishwashers were not adequately sanitizing utensils.
Parents and students react
Parent Todd Haugen’s daughter attends the school.
“That’s disconcerting, especially knowing your child goes there,” he said. “No one likes to hear that.”
Parent Christine Harrison has two children who attend the school and said she was surprised by the number of violations.
“I wish they’d be a little more concerned about kids’ health,” she said.
Harrison’s daughter Sophie said she has not always had a positive experience at the school cafeteria, saying she often feels sick after ordering French fries.
“It’s only after I order them that I feel sick,” she said.
Edmonton school boards weigh in
Lori Nagy, spokesperson for the Edmonton Catholic School District (ECSD), said cleanliness and sanitation is of the utmost importance to the school board. She said the service providers offering cafeteria services at the schools have responsibility to ensure that is happening.
However, she notes there wasn’t always full communication.
She said the ECSD is confident of the service providers in its schools.
“It’s always good to have this discussion and any time that something like this comes to light, there is a discussion that goes on with the principal and service provider,” she said.
Global News reached out to the Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) for comment on how it is ensuring school cafeterias stay clean.
A statement from EPSB spokesperson Raquel Maurier reads, in part:
“Many health inspector visits to our school cafeterias happen without incident, where no violations are noted. When school staff or vendors are made aware of food violations during routine health inspections, the violations are fixed during the inspection or immediately afterwards,” Maurier said.
“We will notify parents if a major health concern or food violation is discovered. For minor violations that are corrected immediately, schools wouldn’t typically notify families.”
As for Warriner, he said it comes down to leadership — ensuring those responsible for food handling know what’s required of them to keep people safe.
He also said one other thing is very important.
“What it’s about isn’t just training — it’s installing food safety culture.”
Coming up Friday: What should be happening in kitchen facilities? And what should parents and their children watch out for? Be sure to stay tuned to globalnews.ca on Friday, Jan. 19 for Part 2 of our series on school cafeterias.
Have a tip related to this story? Or have a story you think should be investigated? Email reporter Julia Wong in confidence at julia.wong@globalnews.ca
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