Passengers on more than 200 Delta Air Lines flights out of Detroit Metropolitan Airport were denied meal service over the weekend after the airline on Friday shut down its Detroit meal service facility.
The closure came after the airline was notified of a “food safety issue” following a routine Food and Drug Administration inspection of the facility, Delta said.
“During a recent inspection at a DTW [Detroit Metro Airport] kitchen, Delta’s catering partner was notified of a food safety issue within the facility. Delta and its catering partner immediately shut down hot food production and subsequently suspended all activity from the facility,” the airline said in a statement to CBS News.
Delta said it is now changing how prepares both hot and cold food in order to restore meal service to flights.
“Hot food and other onboard provisioning will be managed from other facilities,” Delta said, adding that “we will continue to take necessary precautions to ensure food safety.”
“The FDA is committed to working with our state partners to ensure that the products we regulate are safe and effective,” the agency said in a statement, while noting that it doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations. “Food safety is a shared responsibility that involves many parties, including producers, distributors, manufacturers, retailers and regulators.”
On a July flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, Delta served passengers moldy chicken meals that sickened several customers, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing in New York.