Nearly half of the New York City’s school cafeterias received at least one critical violation last year, according to a new report released Wednesday.
The report, compiled by the NYCity News Service — a CUNY Graduate School of Journalism student news service — found that about 700 school cafeterias were cited for at least one critical violation, and city health inspectors found an average of two violations per school visit.
According to the report, one in five citations was considered critical. According to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, a critical violation is more likely to contribute to food-borne illness than a general one, and could include failing to cook food to a required temperature, as well as the discovery of evidence of critters such as mice, rats and roaches in food preparation and consumption areas.
More than 1,100 critical violations were reported in 2017.
“All schools must provide students with safe, clean cafeterias and we ensure that they meet all federal and state requirements,” said a Department of Education representative. “Nothing is more important than the health and wellbeing of students and staff, and we work closely with the Department of Health to immediately investigate and address any violation. In 2017, approximately 98% of schools passed their inspections.”
One of the worst offenders, according to the new report, was the John Jay campus in Brooklyn, which houses three schools that share a cafeteria. They were cited for seven critical violations including the most recent inspection in November that found mice as well as not enough dishwashers, the report said.
