Oversight official: Prison food problems in Ohio are real

COLUMBUS (AP) — The director of a state prisons oversight committee says there appears to be legitimate concerns about the job a private vendor is doing feeding inmates in Ohio prisons.

Joanna Saul, chief of the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, says the quality of food has gone down since Philadelphia-based Aramark Correctional Services began work last September.

Saul says attention to sanitation appears to be lacking, Aramark employees lack sufficient security training and Aramark’s low wages lead to high turnover and a temptation to smuggle in contraband.

Saul told members of her committee today that food service concerns are more significant than in the past.

Aramark has called complaints about its service part of an anti-privatization effort and says it is making steady progress managing operations.