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3/21/2007
A March 16, 2007 article from The Associated Press reports that nearly one-third of school cafeterias may not be receiving the required number of annual health inspections. In order to prevent food poisoning, all schools participating in the federal school lunch program are supposed to have two health inspections each year. According to data from the U.S. Agriculture Department, last year 30% of schools were inspected only once, while 10% received no health inspection at all. Missed inspections are often the result of understaffing at the state or local health agencies responsible for scheduling the visits. The article points out that outbreaks of food poisoning at school cafeterias are rare, and many schools perform their own daily self-inspections to ensure a safe eating environment for students.
The article is available at the MSNBC Web site.
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