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NJ.com/Trenton Times article on Smith efforts on food problems for troops'Tainted food sickened N.J. Guard troops patrolling Capitol, lawmaker says.'Members of the New Jersey National Guard deployed to the nation’s capital following the Jan. 6 insurrection were sickened by tainted food, according to Rep. Chris Smith, who has asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate. Smith, R-4th Dist., said at least 30 New Jerseyans got sick over the last month — including some last week — from eating the food while they were deployed in the nation’s capital to protect the U.S. Capitol. “This is outrageous,” Smith told NJ Advance Media. “The women and men deployed here from New Jersey and elsewhere to protect the Capitol deserve meals that are absolutely safe and healthful. I’ve learned that dozens of National Guard members from New Jersey have gotten sick from tainted food—with some vomiting in the Senate parking lot.”
New Jersey isn’t alone. Members of Congress from Michigan have received similar reports from their Guard members. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., reported that troops received raw ground beef and chicken without the feathers removed. In his letter to Pelosi, D-Calif., Smith wrote: “The men and women deployed here from New Jersey and elsewhere to protect the Capitol deserve meals that are absolutely safe and healthful.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed her concerns after hearing from the reports from Michigan, and will do again in response to Smith’s letter, spokesman Drew Hammill said. He said the Capitol Police had offered to help but the National Guard did not accept the offer. “At this point, this vendor should be discontinued,” Hammill said. “This is an unacceptable situation.” The National Guard Bureau said in a statement that of the 26,000 members who were deployed after Jan. 6 and the 5,200 remaining in Washington, there had about 50 people treated for “gastrointestinal complaints” out of more than 1.2 million meals served. The bureau said no one had been hospitalized and six were treated at military facilities. The others were treated at aid stations. “The National Guard continues to closely monitor the quality and safety of meals provided to its personnel,” the bureau said.
The state Guard said none of the reported illnesses came from the New Jersey members. Smith said he confirmed that there were 30 members from New Jersey who were sick, eight of them violently, but they might not have sought treatment. Gov. Phil Murphy sent about 500 New Jersey-based National Guard soldiers following the Capitol riots. Many of them have returned home but 333 remain on duty in Washington. There was no immediate response from Murphy’s office. This article was originally published by NJ.com/The Star Ledger online on March 3, 2021 and on page 2 of the March 4 print edition of the Trenton Times, can be found at:
https://www.nj.com/politics/2021/03/tainted-food-sickened-nj-guard-troops-patrolling-capitol-lawmaker-says.html |