Mold found at LA airline catering facility

California workplace safety regulators have opened an inspection into an airline catering facility serving Los Angeles International Airport after workers alleged exposure to maggots, mold, cockroaches and other unsanitary conditions while preparing and handling equipment used for in-flight meals.

The complaint against Flying Food Group's facility in Inglewood was filed with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health by UNITE HERE Local 11 labor union on behalf of employees, according to reports by The New York Times, CNN and ABC7.

The division confirmed to the Times that it had "received the complaint and has opened an inspection", but declined to provide further details.

The allegations have drawn attention to sanitation and worker safety within the airline catering supply chain, in which food is prepared, stored and transported before being loaded onto aircraft serving thousands of passengers.

According to the complaint, an employee said she was instructed in late June to clean dishes from a cart that had remained unopened for an extended period. She reported finding dozens of dishes containing decomposing, mold-covered food, some with what appeared to be live maggots and flies.

The worker suggested that the dishes be discarded, but a supervisor allegedly told her they were needed for an upcoming flight, according to the complaint.

Susan Minato, copresident of UNITE HERE Local 11, told ABC7 that the worker said: "I don't think I should clean this. I think that this should be thrown away. This is too disgusting."

The worker was nonetheless instructed to clean the dishes and was not provided with a face mask or other specialized protective equipment, Minato said. The complaint said she later experienced stomach pain, a headache and an unusual sensation in her nose.

The union also alleges that employees encountered what they believed to be cockroaches and other vermin in food preparation areas and near airline food carts.

Another employee alleged that she photographed cockroaches in the kitchen and on a Lufthansa cart in December, The New York Times reported.

A spokesman for Lufthansa said the German national airline had not previously been aware of the alleged incident.

British airline Virgin Atlantic said it was taking the allegations seriously but had found no indication that meals provided to its passengers had been affected.

The complaint also alleges that bathrooms and handwashing stations at the Inglewood facility sometimes lacked sufficient soap or paper towels.

Maria Hernandez, press secretary for UNITE HERE Local 11, told CNN that workers were "incredibly frustrated" by the alleged conditions at a facility supplying some of the world's largest airlines.

renali@chinadailyusa.com