Memphis City Schools Nutrition Services Director James Jordan has resigned amid an investigation of improper food handling and business practices at the districts food warehouse

FM Staff

Memphis City Schools’ Nutrition Services Director James Jordan has resigned amid an investigation of improper food handling and business practices at the district’s food warehouse, reports the Commercial Appeal newspaper. An audit by the district and the local health department found nearly $600,000 worth of food had to be discarded from the Central Nutrition Center central production facility because it had been improperly stored, had been thawed and refrozen, had expired or had been so overpacked into a freezer that air could not properly circulate to keep it at the correct temperature. Preliminary findings of also showed that the Central Nutrition Center ordered too much food, didn’t have enough space to store it and was not using its "first in, first out" storage procedure. There is no indication that unsafe food was ever served to students. The Memphis district feeds more than 110,000 students a day and has a budget of $56 million, making it the nation’s 18th largest district in the country. Jordan had been hired in the summer of 2006. The district says a replacement will be named soon.