School Meal Program

More than 28 million children receive meals daily through the federal school meal programs. Providing meals that are safe is especially important because young children have a higher risk of complications from some foodborne illnesses. GAO examined (1) the frequency and causes of reported foodborne illness outbreaks associated with the federal school meal programs and (2) the practices that federal, state, and local governments as well as other food providers find useful for safeguarding meals.

GAO found that 195, or about 3 percent, of the total of 7,390 foodborne outbreaks that were reported nationwide, between 1990 and 1999, occurred in schools. Specific national data on whether these outbreaks were related to the federal school meal programs do not exist; however, GAO's survey of state health officials provided information on 40 large outbreaks involving these programs. Nearly half of these large outbreaks resulted from improper food preparation and handling practices in school kitchens. Most commonly, foods involved in the outbreaks were contaminated with Norwalk-like viruses, which cause a mild gastrointestinal illness. However, data limitations make comprehensive assessment of the safety of school meal programs difficult. In particular, the reporting mechanism that states use to voluntarily report outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not distinguish between outbreaks in schools involving the school meal programs and those involving food from other sources, such as brought from students' homes. Federal, state, and local governments, as well as other food providers use a variety of practices to safeguard meals. Some of them may have national applicability to the federal school meal programs. For example, having key food service personnel trained and certified in food safety would address the improper food preparation and handling practices that caused most of the outbreaks reported in GAO's survey. Purchasing precooked or irradiated meat and poultry products could reduce the risk of foodborne illness in schools. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that some of the commodities it donates to schools be purchased under more stringent safety standards than the agency's regulatory requirements for meat and poultry processors. Currently, these more stringent procurement requirements are not readily accessible for school districts' use. While the practicality of applying these food preparation/handling and purchasing practices to the nation's schools has not been assessed, several food safety experts believe that applying these practices in all schools would enhance the safety of federal school meals. Some of these practices would likely lead to increased food costs for schools.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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