Report of moldy bread in school cafeteria sparks investigation

(Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

HAWKINS COUNTY, TN (WJHL)- Moldy bread discovered in a school lunchroom has a Tennessee school district launching an internal investigation.

Recommended Videos



It all began with a photo posted on social media.

A student at Cherokee High School in Hawkins County said a friend ate the bread before they realized something wasn't right.

No one has reported being sick, but we discovered that's not stopping people from demanding answers.

Jessica Fisher, a senior at Cherokee High School, told us the moldy banana bread was the last thing she ever expected to see at her lunch table Monday afternoon.

"It was green all over the sides little spongy holes of mold and it was just so gross, I couldn't, I didn't want to eat the rest of my food. We all looked at it, it was grosse, I mean its not something I would want to eat," Fisher said.

But it was something she couldn't unsee, and quickly determined it was actually something she wanted everyone else to see. She snapped a photo and shared it.

"People need to know about this, parents need to know what their kids are eating at school," Fisher said.

"Its unacceptable, unacceptable," Chris Christian said.

The way Board of Education Chairman Chris Christian described the moldy bread incident may sound familiar.

Just last year, the school district had to answer to a room filled with angry parents wondering why their children were fed 6-year-old pork for lunch.

"The facts of the matter is if we had meat in our freezers for 6 years and it wasn't inventoried that is unacceptable," Christian said.

It was a nightmare Christian had hoped the school district wouldn't have to re-live.

"We do not by any means want to go through what we went through with the pork issues and our staff has worked very diligently," Christian said.

Now Christian says they are once again investigating what is being served to students in the schools cafeterias.

He said in this instance the banana bread does come prepackaged from their supplier.

"Every box that we've got in our cafeteria currently, was shipped in January, we receive it frozen and it is frozen until we serve," Christian said.

We asked Christian if it is frozen until served, how did it become moldy?

"That's the most important question that anyone could ask and that's the most important question that needs an answer but right now I can't answer that," Christian said.

Christian said they do have a school board meeting scheduled for this Thursday but as of now nothing is on the agenda to discuss this incident.

He also mentioned that all three students who received moldy bread were either refunded or given another slice that was free of any mold.