School Lunch Provider Sodexo Caught With Hand in Cookie Jar

It's already upsetting to know that food service giant Sodexo goes to great lengths to ensure that kids nationwide are eating cookies and sugary milks for lunch. But it's even more enraging to know that the company is profiting by serving brand name junk food at public schools' expense. Sodexo agreed to pay New York a $20 million settlement after whistleblowing brothers John and Jay Carciero revealed that the company was pocketing rebates from Kellogg's, Pepperidge Farm, and other conglomerates, who often offer discounts as an incentive to serve their products. As Ed Bruske noted on The Slow Cook blog, instead of passing these savings along to the public schools, universities, hospitals, and nursing homes served by them, Sodexo kept some of the money to line the company's coffers. Stealing from sick people and kids? That's low even for Sodexo.

While it might not be totally surprising, this kind of behavior is completely outrageous–not to mention, unacceptable. This is a company that continues to expand and is worth billions of dollars. What amounts to stealing from public institutions is even more upsetting when the quality of food served by the provider is referred to as "disgusting" by one of its most prestigious clients: the USDA.

When you look at the big picture, $20 million is a drop in the bucket in terms of fines that could be levied on food service companies. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo stated that "it is common practice within the food service industry for service providers like Sodexo to leverage their size and market dominance to obtain these rebates from vendors that supply food products, equipment, and supplies." The Carcieros' lawyer pointed out that New York is just one of many states in which Sodexo receives rebates for purchasing certain products.

Cafeteria food and hospital food have been gross for so long that it's considered American to joke about them. But it's sick people and growing children who need nutritious food more than anyone. Sodexo consistently accepts rebates to stock facilities with junk food like Pepperidge Farm cookies and Kellogg's sugary cereals. What's worse, the company doesn't even give those millions of dollars in rebates to the places that are legally owed them. It's time for Sodexo to get its paws out of Pepperidge Farm's cookie jar and start being concerned about its clients—the hospitals, schools, and other facilities that rely on the company's services.

Photo credit: Flickr.