Maggots allegedly found in Tennessee high school cafeteria food

Memphis, Tenn. — Health department officials in Memphis, Tennessee visited a high school after multiple students found maggots in their food.

A Southwind High School student said she was horrified to find her breakfast infested with what appeared to be maggots.

The day after the complaint was filed about the suspected maggots, a boy claimed he was served raw chicken.

Since the first incident, at least these two kids have decided to go hungry instead of taking a risk on the school's food, according to WHBQ-TV.

Tiffany Williams said she almost threw up when her sister sent her a picture of the food Monday and can see what appear to be maggots on the sausage biscuit. She bit into her food, realized something was in it, and there were three maggots, Williams said.

"They [maggots] were moving, yeah, they were moving," Williams said.

Williams said she has made complaints about the food at Southwind before.

Just one day after the maggot fiasco, Williams said her son was served undercooked chicken.

"Somebody's child is either going to have food poisoning or something is going to happen to them if they don't take action in that cafeteria," Williams said.

Williams made her complaint Tuesday, and according to WHBQ-TV, Shelby County health inspectors were already looking into another complaint Monday, just hours after her sister found maggots inside her food.

In the report, it said, no food was contaminated.

Williams said that's hard to believe and said she knew she wasn't the only parent who has made complaints.

"If your kids go to Southwind, you know your kids come home hungry," Williams said. "They come home hungry because the first thing they say is the cafeteria food is not right and I'm not eating it."

Shelby County Schools told WHBQ-TV they are looking into this.

The Shelby County Health Department released a statement:

The Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) sent an environmentalist (inspector) to Southwind High School on Monday morning, October 21st because of one complaint from a citizen sent via social media. SCHD does not disclose the names of complainants.

The SCHD environmentalist inspected food and food preparation facilities at Southwind High School. They did not find evidence of spoiled or contaminated food or insects in food. Per SCHD policy, there is no need to conduct a reinspection in response to this complaint, as no violations were found on the initial inspection.

All school food preparation facilities are subject to routine unannounced inspections twice per year. Southwind High School will be inspected again according to schedule.

SCHD takes all complaints about food sanitation and safety very seriously in order to prevent food-borne illness. Additionally, the Environmental Health and Food Safety Program investigates every complaint received about school facilities in Shelby County in order to protect the health and safety of students and school staff.

Shelby County Schools Media Relations also released a statement Wednesday saying:

Our Nutrition Services team has investigated two instances of food items being served this week at Southwind High School that did not meet our strict standards for quality. The contaminated breakfast sandwich in question is a pre-packaged item received from a vendor, and we are addressing this issue with the vendor to ensure items are properly inspected before arriving at our schools. The second instance involved a food item that unfortunately was undercooked, and a member of the school's cafeteria staff has been disciplined as a result.

The Health Department was called proactively to inspect the school's cafeteria and found no evidence of conditions that contributed to either situation. We take food quality and safety very seriously and hold our school nutrition staffs and external vendors to very high standards to ensure the freshest possible food items are served to our students. We want all students to have a positive and healthy experience when they dine with us. Therefore, we always welcome feedback from students, parents and community partners on the services we provide each day and use it to improve our services.

Cox Media Group