Several memos written by a former health and nutrition coordinator for the Ogden Area Community Action Agency indicate the agency had unhealthy food practices and sanitation problems in 1993 and 1994.
The memos are under review by the FBI, which is investigating the agency. They were obtained by the Standard-Examiner newspaper, which reported a week ago that the memos indicate children in the agency's Head Start preschool program for low-income families were fed 2-day-old reheated hot dogs and molding bread.The memos were written by Deloris Moore, who was the agency's health and nutrition coordinator, to H.C. Massey, OACAA's executive director.
The cooks were told "to prepare leftover hotdogs from the `Make a Difference Day' instead of the roast scheduled to be served," one memo said.
"We should not be serving leftover food from other functions. These hotdogs had been cooked for the functions, then reheated two days later for the meal today. Teachers were concerned because the hotdogs tasted funny. This is against sanitation and food handling laws, and can cause food poisoning," the memo said.
Doretha Keeling, OACAA's Head Start director, said she does not know of any current or past problems with the agency's cleanliness or food service.
"There have been no issues that I'm aware of for the past five, six years. None," Keeling said.
Russell Hansen, Weber-Morgan Health Department food program manager, said his department has no record of complaints about OACAA's food service in 1993 or 1994. Inspections from those years, as well as from 1995 and 1996, showed only minor, common problems, Hansen said.
Hansen said that serving the reheated hot dogs may or may not have been dangerous, depending on whether they were refrigerated between servings.
"The potential (for problems) is there any time you are cooking and then cooling again and then cooking," Hansen said. "In at-risk populations, which children are, we kind of discourage that, just as an added safety precaution.
Another memo from Moore to Massey said not enough food was being ordered to supply the kitchen properly.
"We have only a few loaves of bread that are stale," the memo said. "The bread that will be served for lunch today is beginning to mold."
Other memos and the minutes of a 1993 meeting of Head Start parents talked of problems getting enough food for the children.
"Oftentimes the kitchen staff are not preparing enough food to adequately meet the needs of the children," the meeting minutes said. "In the past the children have not been allowed seconds and have gone home hungry."
Further memos from Moore to Massey talked about the need for better cleaning in the OACAA building in Ogden. Certain areas of the building smelled of urine and cat feces, and the entire building had the stench of urine, Moore wrote.
Moore no longer works for the agency, the newspaper said.
Margaret Archibald, OACAA's current health coordinator, said she has not seen any problems with sanitation or maintenance since starting her job in November.
Massey did not respond to phone calls from the newspaper seeking comment.
The agency has been ordered by the Administration for Children and Families to submit an improvement plan or it could lose its grant to operate Head Start.
A report last fall criticized the program as "seriously deficient" and said the agency's board had given Massey too much control over Head Start. It also questioned the accounting skills of the agency's staff.