You can skip today’s "Scared Straight" episode, kids. This prison horror story should suffice.
Pet food found its way onto the plates of prisoners in an East Texas jail after a food company that distributed products to the prison mislabeled its fajita meat, according to federal court documents.
John Soules Food Inc. allegedly screwed up the labels, resulting in prisoners eating thousands of pounds of “meat trimmings” intended for animals. The company has agreed to pay $392,000 to settle the dispute.
Under the settlement, John Soules will change its food safety procedures, but the company did not admit any wrongdoing. “There is no evidence that anyone who consumed any of the ‘beef trimmings’ product suffered any ill effects,” the U.S. Attorney said in a news release.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons bought the meat and served it to inmates in 2006 and 2007, according to the feds, who announced the settlement last week. The settlement funds will go to reimbursing the government for the cost of its three-year investigation, officials said in the release.
“Food security and safety are stressed in all aspects of operations,” and “[facility design] allows for complete separation between raw and ready to products,” according to John Soules’ website, which also says it is a leading provider of meat products for food service distributors, chain restaurants and supermarkets.
Earlier this month, a batch of bad chicken salad caused over 300 inmates in Arkansas to contract food poisoning.
