Spitting in food blatant health violation
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“What happened violates all principals of food service employees,” said state health inspector Donald Page. “It is a blatant violation.”
Page referred to the actions of Homer Disher, 18, who allegedly spit in the hashbrowns of McMinnville Police Lt. John Morgan last week at the local Waffle House before handing the box of food to the officer and saying “enjoy this.” Disher would later reportedly tell officers he did it because Morgan pulled him over. However, it was learned Disher was not cited during the traffic stop.
The charges of adulteration of food and retaliation for past actions which Disher faces, the first of which carries three to six years, have raised some eyebrows due to the their severity. Disher spent several days in jail before having his bond lowered from $90,000 to $5,000 last week. He is now free on bond. He was given a Nov. 8 hearing date during his appearance before General Sessions Judge Larry Ross this Tuesday.
While not commenting on the criminal actions, Page said the officer does have recourse when it comes to violation of safety laws which govern the service of food. Presently, the state inspector’s office has no plans to go after Waffle House since the employee was terminated and the restaurant has an otherwise good record of compliance with state sanitary laws.
“We appreciate the management taking immediate action,” Page said of the termination of Disher. “Now if he had not been terminated, this is something we would have discussed with them.”
Page said intentional adulteration of food is a rare thing. Instead, most complaints they receive come from the behavior of food service employees as it pertains to their eating or drinking in the same area where food is being prepared.
“What happened is a very rare thing,” Page said, noting should Morgan care to file a complaint with the state food inspector’s office, further action will be considered.