Food Isn’t Moldy

This letter is in response to the brief story headlined “A Moldy Message for Oldsters,” (Times, Dec. 18). The article quotes a sign on the wall of the San Marcos Joslyn Senior Center nutrition program that cautions: “For health reasons, taking out potentially hazardous food is not recommended. Doing so is at your own risk.” It questions the quality of the food if it is “potentially hazardous.”

The county’s Area Agency on Aging contracts with the San Marcos program (using) Older Americans Act funds, and we monitor the use of those funds under strict guidelines to be sure that the food served is healthy and nutritious. The sign is in compliance with federal regulations, and a similar warning is, in fact, displayed at our 55 nutrition sites throughout the county.

The kinds of foods which are “potentially hazardous” are any kind of cream-based or protein-based foods such as milk, cheese, eggs, meat or poultry. These foods are not potentially hazardous when stored, prepared and served properly, but they may be hazardous if not cared for properly after taking them from the site.

Since the program has no control over the handling of the food once it leaves the site, there is no guarantee that the food will be maintained at proper temperatures until consumed.

Many seniors are susceptible to food-borne illness; it is for their protection that the regulation is enforced.

Please help us correct the article’s implication that “potentially hazardous” means that food eaten at the lunch programs is dangerous when, on the contrary, it is healthy and nourishing.

DANIEL L. LAVER Director, Area Agency on Aging