Catering workers wrote to the FDA saying food was reaching unsafe temperatures on the way to aircraft
| Date of record | Letter sent September; reported December 2019 |
|---|---|
| Location | Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Arizona |
| Type | Worker complaint to regulator |
| Source tier | Tier 1 — national news investigation (NBC News) |
What the record shows
Workers at an airline catering facility serving Phoenix airport sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration raising concern that food was reaching unsafe temperatures on its way to aircraft.
The letter stated that food was exposed to extremely hot conditions in delivery trucks. Workers reported that the hydraulic delivery vehicles used to bring food to aircraft are not always temperature controlled. Tarmac surface temperatures at the airport were described as reaching 120–125°F when ambient air temperature was around 115°F, and as regularly exceeding 100°F from June through September.
Evidence gap
This is a documented complaint to a regulator about the specific segment between the catering facility and the aircraft. The complaint describes conditions. It does not, and could not, produce a temperature record for any individual cart on any individual flight, because no such record was being generated.