Delta Air Lines has started to serve sandwiches from cafe chain Panera Bread to First Class passengers on some flights from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after a Listeria outbreak closed down the local catering kitchen used by the carrier.
The catering kitchen was shuttered over the weekend after Delta Air Lines said that an unspecified “food safety issue” was identified when inspectors paid the facility a visit.
Today’s Catering out of DTW
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At least 200 Delta flights departed Detroit without hot meals over the weekend as the airline tried to source catering from alternative sources, including other catering kitchens throughout its own network and outside sources.
It’s now emerged that Delta even resorted to hiring Panera Bread and catering to supply sandwiches to First Class passengers on some flights, with one passenger sharing photos on the social media site Reddit of the snack box he was provided.
“When the flight attendant said that the meal was a ‘Panera Bread’ sandwich, I was surprised,” the passenger wrote on Monday. “Unfortunately, they weren’t labeled, so which sandwich you got was random, but honestly, I didn’t mind it over the usual meals.”
Delta has a catering contract with Vienna-based airline catering company DO&CO, which is normally renowned for the high-quality food it provides for a number of international carriers, including Turkish Airlines.
Back in July, however, the same DO&CO facility came under scrutiny after passengers on a Delta flight from Detroit to Amsterdam were reportedly served moldy chicken meals.
The mold food had even been allegedly served to some of the crew, which prompted the pilots of Delta flight DL136 to make an emergency diversion to New York JFK just incase the effects of food poisoning started to kick in half way across the Atlantic.
The New York and New Jersey Port Authority said it assisted 24 people from the flight, including 14 passengers and ten crew members, although all of those seen refused further medical care.
In the wake of the moldy food fiasco, Delta was forced to serve only vegetarian meals to passengers on flights departing Detroit for several days, while it took steps to remove any bad meals from its inventory.
In a memo to flight attendants, the airline implored crew members to double-check meals before serving them to passengers, telling them that they were the “last line of defense” to prevent a serious food poisoning outbreak.
In response to the current situation at the Detroit DO&CO catering facility, Delta says that there have been no reported incidents of sickness from either passengers or crew members.
