More than three-fifths of Michigan residents want to end state contract with Aramark, poll finds

More than three-fifths of Michiganders want to end the state's contract with Aramark, the private company working in the kitchens of the state's prisons.

According to numbers released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling, a poll of more than 1,000 Michigan voters showed 62 percent of respondents want Gov. Rick Snyder to cancel the state's three-year $145 million contract with Aramark.

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz said the department respects concerns about Aramark's work, but said the poll wouldn't result in much change.

"We don't use political polls to help us make decisions on contracts," Gautz sad.

Aramark's time with the state has been marked by controversy. It's been revealed that Aramark employees allegedly served cake that had been partially eaten by rodents to inmates in a facility near St. Louis, served food that had been thrown in the trash at Saginaw Correctional Facility among other allegations of spoiled food being served or maggots being found in food preparation areas in other prisons.

The most recent incident involving Aramark took place at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson. In that instance, maggots were reportedly spotted in a food preparation area before prison officials shut down the operation.

The question asked by PPP biased the results, Gautz contended.

The question was "Do you believe Governor Snyder should cancel the state's multi-million dollar a year contract with prison food services vendor Aramark, which has been cited with numerous violations and one employee engaged in an alleged murder for hire plot?"

"How you ask questions has everything to do with the response," he said.

Gautz said if the question would have mentioned the contract saved taxpayers $12 million in its first year and is expected to save between $12 million and $16 million in subsequent years, it might change the answers.