SUBMITTED: Thursday, March 08, 2007
POSTED: Thursday, March 08, 2007
In the Correctional setting ARAMARK charges not by the item but by the number of inmates fed. If 800 inmates receive trays then the amount charged is 800 times the cost per tray listed in the contract. If an inmate refuses his or her milk, they still eat the rest of their meal, and hence are considered "fed".
There is nothing wrong with placing the returned milk back into the fridge and using it for a different meal as long as the milk's temperature did not reach into the danger zone (above 40 degrees F). If the milk became warm then it would become a safety hazard.
To insinuate that ARAMARK is practicing inappropriate billing over this practice is inaccurate. I must admit that this never occered at the facility I was at because the inmates always drank their milk, or gave it to someone else if they did not want it. However, barring any temperature issues, ARAMARK would be well within their contractual rights to reuse the milk instead of simply throwing it away.