New Food Service Company, Sodexo, Responds to Past Listeria Outbreak

Min Park
News Reporter

As Newton South transitions to a new food supplier, Sodexo, the company joins the school in the wake of recent controversies including a Listeria outbreak.

According to PR Watch, in 2007, the USDA recalled chicken, that Sodexo served, due to the possibility it was contaminated with the Listeria bacteria. In 2010, Sodexo was also caught choosing food suppliers based not on quality, but on which supplier could give them the highest cash rebate for the contract.

Even though these controversies have plagued the company, Sodexo has been improving its processes to produce high quality products its customers expect.

The Chief of Operations for Newton Public Schools Michael Cronin explains that the district chose Sodexo due to the company’s ability to meet the district’s expectations.

“Newton Public Schools chose Sodexo because Sodexo demonstrated the ability to supply high quality, nutritious food using a top management support staff,” said Cronin.

The school department’s three year contract with the previous food service provider, Whitsons, ended in June 2016. Thus, a competitive bidding process for a new contract occurred and was supervised by the city of Newton’s Purchasing Department.

In the fall, four food service companies remained willing to attend a mandatory site visit and tour of the Newton facilities. Out of the four companies, only Whitsons and Sodexo proposed submissions.

Later, a team of members from different sectors of Newton Public Schools reviewed the proposals and held a question and answer with both companies.

“In the end it was felt that both companies were very close, however Sodexo emerged with a slight advantage,” Cronin said.

Principal Joel Stembridge says that some students were involved in the selection process by requesting that the usage recyclable materials be part of the new contract. The team then adopted that change into their proposals requiring that companies meet a certain standard of recyclable materials.

Stembridge believes that the controversies that Sodexo faced in the past are common in most food supply companies and should not be a concern for parents and students.

“I think that’s true for many companies that have been in business for awhile. I don’t know that the other companies that were also bidding didn’t have other issues and I think the last company that we had also had some issues. So, I don’t know if this company’s issues are any different from those,” said Stembridge.

Junior Jennifer Kang, after hearing about Sodexo’s past controversies, believes that these problems will have no significant effect and students will buy food from the cafeteria because some students don’t have the option to do otherwise, and others won’t care.

In addition, many students seem unaware about the controversies that Sodexo faced in the past, and generally see school lunches as unideal.

Both junior Eunice Kim and sophomore Lily Boschin agree with Kang that the majority of school lunches are usually portrayed as unappetizing, regardless of the supplier the meal comes from.

“I buy lunch sometimes and they are never something I look forward to, however, it is still food and I am going to eat it,” Kim said.

Kim continues and states that this portrayal of school lunch leads her to think of these controversies as the “norm”.

For all students interviewed, no tangible improvements, like more nutritious school meals, have been made with the transition to a new company.

Although Sodexo has had issues with serving unreliable lunches in different facilities, students and parents should remain focused on the company’s reputation at South, which so far has been on par with the previous supplier.

“I think the biggest concern that parents and students should have is that the food and the product they’re getting here at South is what they want…and then larger concerns about the company itself maybe they should address to the school district,” Stembridge said.