More maggots found in food in Aramark prison kitchen

LANSING – The Michigan Department of Corrections ordered its prison food vendor to throw out all its potatoes at a Jackson-area prison and scrub down the kitchen today after another incident of maggots found in food, an official confirmed.

Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the department, said maggots were discovered among potatoes that food vendor Aramark Correctional Services was preparing for lunch at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility near Jackson.

Prisoners supervised by Aramark were cutting the potatoes when the maggots were spotted, Gautz said.

Prison staff got involved and ordered all the potatoes at the facility thrown out before any of them made it to the oven or were served, he said. Staff also ordered a complete cleaning of the kitchen and sanitization of any utensils that might have come into contact with the potatoes, Gautz told the Free Press.

Prisoners were sent back to their cells and served a new meal about an hour later after the kitchen was cleaned, he said.

Karen Cutler, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia-based Aramark, said the company is "looking into this incident with our staff and local Michigan potato supplier, as well as the MDOC who manages pest control.

"All food safety protocols were followed and the potatoes were discarded immediately prior to any meal service and replaced with noodles," Cutler said.

Though incidents have decreased considerably in recent months, the service provided by Aramark and the conduct of its employees have made headlines since the company began a $145-million, three-year contract to feed Michigan's 43,000 state prisoners in December 2013.

The state fined Aramark $98,000 in March 2014 for food shortages, unauthorized menu substitutions and overfamiliarity between kitchen workers and inmates; and another $200,000 in August 2014 after problems persisted. The state later confirmed it quietly waived the March fine soon after it was imposed, and Aramark never paid it.

There were earlier incidents of maggots found in or around food, though state officials later said the maggots couldn't be blamed on Aramark so much as issues such as prison food storage. Gautz said he didn't want to assign blame for today's incident, but said, "It's their food, it's their kitchen," referring to Aramark.

There also have been incidents of Aramark employees arrested for trying to smuggle drugs into state prisons to supply inmates and several instances in which Aramark workers and inmates have been caught engaging in sex acts. Earlier this month, a former Aramark worker at Kinross Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula was arraigned for trying to hire an inmate to assault another inmate.

Prison officials recently confirmed to the Free Press that Aramark is seeking an increase in how much it is paid under the contract and said the state has called in a competing food vendor to help it complete a cost analysis.

The liberal group Progress Michigan, which received a tip about today's incident, called for a wide-ranging investigation.

"Once again, it seems that Aramark has failed in their duty to follow their contract with Michigan taxpayers," said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan.

"The time for a full investigation of Aramark is long past due," Scott said. If neither Gov. Rick Snyder nor Attorney General Bill Schuette is prepared to act, "then the Michigan Legislature must launch an investigation," he said.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.