The fact that the Carson Dining Center – the kitchen that cooks the food distributed to all other University Housing dining facilities – has been washing potatoes in a commercial dishwasher using a chemical cleanser meant for kitchen utensils is contrary to accepted food handling practices and is frankly unappetizing.
The company that makes the soap, Ecolab, doesn’t even keep records of the health hazards involved with consuming foods washed in it because it’s not intended for such use. Because of this, no one can be sure what exactly the effects are on those who have eaten these potatoes. The anonymous sources who revealed the practice reported that it has been occurring for at least three years,
which means that anyone who has eaten potatoes at any University housing outlet in that time period could have gotten sick afterward and attributed their illness to something else.
Even if consumers are only slightly affected, who knows how many may have experienced diarrhea, nausea or a simple headache and not known the culprit, if the chemical in fact causes such symptoms. Even worse, because the practice has not been publicly reported, eventually one consumer may be allergic to the chemical, have a serious reaction and have no way of knowing its source. All of that doesn’t seem worth any benefits the “labor saving technique,” as it was put by Carson Central Kitchen Chef Doug Lang, may offer.
Although Lang classified the practice as “very common,” the fact that it was not disclosed and that it was immediately said to be halted implies that Lang’s classification may not have been the case.
Lang said that the kitchen began washing the potatoes in the dishwasher after the kitchen’s “agitator,” the machine that washes potatoes safely, broke.
Although this may have been a temporary setback to food safety, the machine could have been either replaced or
repaired. Even without the machine, its absence does not excuse unsafe food practices.
The Emerald also questions those who have been overseeing this practice. We applaud those in food services who have blown the whistle to this stomach-turning technique, but emphasize that it should not have reached the point that an employee had to blow the whistle through our paper. It, at the very least, should have been caught by the University’s Environmental Health and Safety Director, Kay Coots, who is supposed to check the facilities at least once a term.
If Coots was unaware of the practice, every food service worker in the facility should have recognized the practice as unsafe and as against proper handling procedures. Those who recognized the problem should have come forward sooner after their attempts to rectify the problem within their organization were unsuccessful.
It’s embarrassing to the University, especially during IntroDUCKtion, when new students and their families are visiting the University and eating the food.
Even if the practice is found to not be harmful to those consuming the potatoes, it should be stopped immediately. It reflects badly on University Housing’s dining facilities that it has continued this long.