Against a backdrop of elevated security at the U.S. Capitol and a National Guard deployment likely extending into May, the Pentagon and a College Park catering company vigorously denied allegations of food sickening 59 soldiers, after some of the service members sought medical attention.
Through inquiries with Department of Defense officials and a spokesperson for the company, Sardi’s Catering, both the National Guard leadership and the food provider said the soldiers’ ailments could not be definitively tied to Sardi’s.
By late Friday, the National Guard signaled it would not end its contract with the business.
Yet the military’s defense contrasted sharply with demands from a growing list of lawmakers, who voiced bipartisan outcry over food described by U.S. senators and representatives as “undercooked” and “inedible.”
“National Guard inspectors visit our facilities and supporting kitchens regularly to conduct spot checks, ensure our supplies are up to their standards, and that our food preparation and packaging is clean, safe, and fully compliant with federal regulations,” a Sardi’s spokesperson said Friday. “No issues have been recorded from these inspections.”
Lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum, ranging from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) to Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), called the food quality “unacceptable, unhealthy, and even harmful.”
The company conceded some of its meals were undercooked, writing in a statement that the National Guard estimated less than .01 percent of its total 1.2 million meals were not properly prepared.
1,200,000 x .0001 = 1200. Less than that is up to 1199.
The number of undercooked meal should have been zero.
Rotting fruit? Should be zero.
No excuse for moldy bread, none.
Exactly, even crappy McDonalds has better standards than this. Shameful!
Lack of Food !!!!!
Good Lord that crap is disgusting; let those at Pentagon try eating it if it didn’t make NG sick then.
Are they so used to lying, that they can never tell the truth?