New Haven school cafeteria inspections find only minor issues

NEW HAVEN — The cafeterias in the city’s schools have been found to be sanitary, according to reports from the city’s health department.

According to the most recent health inspection reports in the city’s school cafeterias obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, inspectors found mostly minor issues in cafeterias, most of which could be immediately rectified by district officials and cafeteria staff.

No New Haven school cafeteria failed on their most recent inspection, which primarily were conducted in early 2020. Many received perfect scores on their inspection reports.

In some cafeterias, inspectors found small amounts of rust — including on the exterior of a milk cooler at Barnard School and on the wheels of a table at Quinnipiac School. There also were some construction issues in some cafeterias, including missing ceiling tiles at schools including Ross/Woodward, Hill Regional Career High School and Edgewood, and damaged walls at schools including the Mayo Early Childhood School, Worthington Hooker and East Rock.

Inspectors found cold storage issues at some schools, with improperly-placed or missing thermometers at Jepson, Clinton Avenue and Brennan schools, and at Martinez School an inspector found sandwiches in cold storage that were not cold enough. In the cafeteria of Celentano, an inspector found chipping paint on the wall; an inspector also found chipping paint on guardrails outside the Central Kitchen, where much of the district’s food is prepared.

The most common issue in the reports was that some areas were overlooked and needed to be wiped down or cleaned. In multiple schools, inspectors found walls and floors behind or underneath equipment that needed to be cleaned. At several schools, inspectors said the vents required cleaning. The issue of air quality in schools has been an issue since the start of the pandemic, when the Board of Education and community scrutinized the cleanliness of air filters and the overall functionality of school HVAC systems. Two schools — Quinnipiac and West Rock — are not expected to reopen because of outdated or non-operational air ventilation systems.

City Health Director Maritza Bond said it is especially important for school cafeterias to be clean because of the young population they serve.

“According to the (Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention), 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases annually in the United States. One of the largest risk groups for foodborne illness are children due to their developing immune systems,” she said. “As part of the National School Lunch Program New Haven School Cafeterias are responsible for serving thousands of meals each day to New Haven elementary, middle, and high school students. In some cases, these meals may be the only meal the child consumes all day long.”

Bond said inspections are “one of the best tools” a health department has to reduce foodborne illness.

“Routine inspections are important as they help to identify risk hazards such as temperature violations, sanitization standards and hand washing requirements. Conducting cafeteria inspection also allows the inspector to speak with the cafeteria workers and address any questions or concerns they may have or inform them about any new changes to the Public Health Code,” she said.

She said her department and the city’s schools have an “open relationship” when it comes to communicating necessary information.

Although the inspection reports reflect a generally high quality of cleanliness and safety in the city’s school cafeterias and kitchens, they also reflect a school department that has been able to operate with low costs and a balanced budget. The district’s meal service program, which is operated inhouse, generates most of its revenue from federal reimbursements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, a steep drop-off in the number of meals being served by the district in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic closed school buildings means the program has a shortfall of roughly $2 million this year.

Despite the drop in revenue, school officials said it will not impact the meal service program’s operations if aging equipment must be replaced or the district needs to invest in more cleaning supplies.

“The need for any equipment or physical upgrades to the cafeterias will be addressed as part of routine maintenance,” said Assistant Superintendent Evie Velazquez.

Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said that if the school district discovers any issues in cafeterias, “I am sure they will be fixed, or (we) will find the resources to have them fixed.”