Minimizing the risk of liability due to unsafe food has become increasingly important in recent years. Unfortunately, in some cases Sodexo's school food service operations has failed to deliver healthy food.

Berks County, PA

In Berks County (PA), several students at the Birdsboro Elementary Center became sick after the Sodexo-run cafeteria served them milk they said had an unusual taste. The district superintendent said that children said they had either a sore throat or stomach ache, due to a sanitizer used to clean milk containers having leaked into the milk itself. Sodexo supplies the milk, which it gets from the Lehigh Dairy.

"Some kids just didn't feel well," said School Board President Kevin F. McCullough of the December 2008 incident. "The milk did not taste right to the kids."

New Orleans, LA

In the New Orleans schools, foreign objects have been found in food. Black plastic was found in orange juice at the John Dilbert School. At John McDonogh Senior High School, students became ill after drinking tainted orange juice that was later found to have mold on the container.

New Orleans College Prep (NOCP) was also served spoiled milk. Sodexo claimed it was not expired, and had the vendor pick it up and bring fresh milk. There was a complaint about rodents in one New Orleans school cafeteria.