F.P Report
WASHINGTON: National Guardsmen fell sick after consuming poor quality food on Tuesday.
According to the official press release, National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. with a duty of providing security and defense to the U.S. Capitol have been served substandard food and that eventually made them sick.
Mentioning more details on the matter, the Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby remarked that he met last week with the chief of the National Guard Bureau, Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, and that the National Guard and its leaders have augmented efforts to guarantee that all guardsmen working on Capitol Hill are receiving healthy meals, the statement mentioned.
Quoting Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby, statement added that “Hokanson and National Guard leaders are taking very seriously the need to make sure that the troops have safe and nutritious food.”
“There are routine inspections. He himself goes down there multiple times a week to eat with the National Guardsmen to eat what they’re eating,” Kirby mentioned.
Highlighting the concerns of guardsmen, Kirby remarked that National Guard is working with the contractors who provide food to the guardsmen to address any concerns, and is also visiting the businesses supplying the food to assess the quality of meals being prepared, official press release cited.
“We do spot check on meals for cooking temperature and overall quality,” Kirby said.
“The vendor facilities have been inspected multiple times with no substantial issues having been recorded. So again there is a lot of activity on this, a lot of visibility, and rightly so.”
Pentagon Press Secretary pointed out that, no National Guard members have been hospitalized because of illness from food, adding that 26,000 who have been deployed, and of the 5,100 who remain on duty at the Capitol, about 50 have been treated for gastrointestinal complaints.
“Six of them were treated as outpatients at military treatment facilities, others were handled at an aid station set up as part of the task force,” he said.
