After Delta closed its food service facility, more than 200 planes departing from Detroit Metropolitan Airport were forced to cancel their in-flight meals .
A "food safety issue" concerning the preparation of the aircraft meals was discovered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during a regular examination of the kitchens. The airline claims that after the FDA inspection, it willingly ordered the facility to close immediately. As a result, the airline has publicly announced that it is now altering its hot and cold food preparation methods before resuming lunch service on flights.
An FDA report with further information will be made public in the upcoming weeks, but Delta did not specify which violations food inspectors identified in the kitchens of their Detroit food catering partner, Do&Co, that they considered to be so serious.
"During a recent inspection at a Detroit Metro Airport kitchen, Delta's catering partner was notified of a food safety issue within the facility. Delta and its catering partner immediately shut down hot food production and subsequently suspended all activity from the facility," the airline said in a statement.
"Hot food and other onboard provisioning will be managed from other facilities,' the airline said, noting that 'we will continue to take necessary precautions to ensure food safety." Typically, Delta offers complete meal service on flights above 2,300 miles and simply hot lunches on flights over 900 miles.
Panera Bread sandwiches were served to passengers on Monday's flights, and they were compensated with 2,500 SkyMiles. The cleanliness of Delta's Detroit kitchens has been questioned previously this year. A aircraft from Detroit to Amsterdam had to make an emergency landing in New York in July when several of the passengers became ill after being fed rotten chicken.
The chicken had black mold growing on it, according to some pictures obtained by travelers and flight staff. After eating the meal, one traveler claimed that they did not complete it "because it tasted really really sour."
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After the plane touched down at JFK, medics greeted it and helped 10 flight crew members and 14 passengers. According to Delta, the crew sought advice from medical professionals who suggested the detour.
Early on Wednesday morning, Nancy Kirchoff, 65, and her husband were on the airplane headed for Amsterdam when it made an emergency landing at JFK Airport. According to Kirchoff, who spoke to DailyMail, the pilot declared that they were turning around because there was "some sort of food issue and people were sick."
"They said they saw some mold on the chicken,' she added. 'I asked if anyone had gotten sick and they told us no one had been affected, but the pilots both ate the chicken."
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