WINGATE, N.C. — The Union County Health Department paid a visit to Wingate University Monday to create an action plan after students complained about finding bugs in the cafeteria's food.
Inspectors met with the university’s food provider, Aramark, days after a student found a grasshopper in her salad Friday.
Officials had already investigated complaints about worms being found in the broccoli last month.
[PAST COVERAGE: Wingate student reportedly finds grasshopper in food after school makes changes]
“Disgusting," said freshman Brandon Norman. "They’ve got to do something about it because, I mean, I’m not going in there right now."
It’s the talk of the campus for Wingate students who told Channel 9 they're now double-checking everything on their plate.
“I even check my sandwich to make sure it’s all cooked,” one student said.
The Health Department said it learned about the grasshopper incident Sunday and scheduled a visit for Monday.
After the inspection, officials laid out an action plan that they hope will help make students' food safer.
Wingate University action plan:
- Vendor has been notified, as well as Aramark's supply chain and risk management teams, so that an investigation into the food products, as well as the vendor, may begin.
- Staff has been retrained to wash any and all leafy greens in smaller batches in an effort to mitigate the risk of a situation happening again.
- Ordering has been altered so that pre-made salads and leafy green mixes will no longer be necessary.
- All leafy greens will be hand cut, mixed and washed from this point forward.
- Aramark will be in contact with an independent safety auditor to asses, evaluate and help build a successful ongoing training and safety platform specific to Wingate's needs.
Students told Channel 9 they aren’t asking for a lot.
“Just make sure they do things right,” one student said.
The Health Department said its subsequent reports will be made public and will be available online when its complete.
Aramark General Manager Thomas Bedward issued the following apology to students:
“We follow stringent food safety procedures to ensure all food served on campus is of the highest quality and safe to eat. We apologize to the Wingate community for the two recent incidents involving produce served on campus that did not meet our high quality standards."