Was moldy food served to students with USD 475?

JUNCTION CITY (KSNT) - Geary County Schools' superintendent is weighing in after parents complained of their children being served moldy food.

27 News reached out to Superintendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston with USD 475 for a statement after parents began issuing complaints about moldy food being served to their children at one of the district's educational institutions. Eggleston said he received word about possible moldy food being served to students at the Junction City Middle School.

"I apologized to a student's parent this morning [Jan. 15] about it," Eggleston said.

School staff serve students pre-packaged food, including items like pastries which are regularly checked to see if they have expired. Eggleston said shortly after parents began expressing complaints about the quality of the district's food, he directed the school's food service staff to check a variety of different items to ensure they are up to USD 475's standards.

"Whenever we return from the holidays, one of the things we do is try to check the food and make sure they are within the expiration date," Eggleston said.

Eggleston said a breakfast bar that was served to students at the Junction City Middle School was the source of the complaints. USD 475 lists a nutrition bar as being part of the menu for middle school students on Jan. 14 on its website. At the time of this report, no other reports of moldy food have been made at any of the other schools within USD 475.

"We haven't heard anything else from anyone else at this time," Eggleston said.

Eggleston reiterated the district's commitment to ensuring students receive safe and healthy food while at school.

"We're committed to providing the best quality meals that we possibly can to our students and we will always remain committed to that," Eggleston said.

Matt Hoover, a spokesman for USD 475, provided an additional statement on the situation to 27 News on Jan. 15. He said the incident remains under investigation but the breakfast bars were not expired when they were served to students.

"As of Wednesday afternoon, our food services department has confirmed that the pre-packaged breakfast bars still met the expiration date and that this was an isolated incident at JCMS," Hoover said. We are continuing to monitor the situation."

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