Department of Labor Shuts Down its Cafeteria... Because of Rats
Dept of Labor shuts down its cafeteria (temporarily?) over food safety. Glad I haven't eaten there in a number of years. Interesting they made it up there considering its on the 6th floor. And gross that I ate in that cafeteria for a few years.... I'll just choose to think that the problem didn't exist then. Ya, right.
This just in for the lunch hour!
Labor Department workers will not be eating in the agency cafeteria now — or perhaps ever again after this news: City health inspectors shut down the onsite eatery this month for violating many, many sanitation codes.
The Labor cafeteria workers – who are privately contracted – were observed not washing their hands, according to the inspection report obtained by the Loop. The hot and cold food bars were kept at inappropriate temperatures.
But the most retch-inducing is this find:
“Rodent feces were observed along floor perimeter in dry storage room, on glue trap (sic) in mop room and on a piece of unused equipment in the unused equipment storage room. Small flies were observed on surfaces (i.e. walls and ceiling) in kitchen rear and warewashing areas.”
We recall first lady Michelle Obama visited the agency in 2010 to read “Green Eggs and Ham” in the child-care center. She also noted that culinary students in a training program had “prepared a delicious and, hopefully, healthy snack for our children.”
We hope the food wasn’t prepared in the Labor cafe. Still, gives a whole new meaning to green eggs.
(We received word late Thursday that the cafeteria was reopened, and had only been closed several days last week. A Labor spokesman said he even ate there Thursday, and that it was, “delicious!”)
