Troopers stop truck from delivering spoiled foods

KENTLAND, Ind. (WLFI) - Thursday morning, Indiana State Police stopped a truck hauling food products on U.S. 41 near U.S. 24 in Kentland, Indiana. The truck was stopped for a traffic violation, but Master Trooper David Eggers of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division later discovered the enclosed refrigerator box container inside the 2010 Hindo Straight Truck was not working.

When Trooper Eggers walked up to the driver, he noticed the refrigerator compressor was not running. The driver, identified by ISP as 44-year-old Chun Zhang of Seatac of Washington, claimed he forgot to turn it on and proceeded to start the unit from inside the truck. When Zhang started the refrigerator, the thermometer in the unit read 69.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Master Trooper Dale Morgan also of the CVED stopped to assist Trooper Eggers.

Inside the refrigerator, troopers found raw chicken that measured 48 degrees, beef that measured 48 to 50 degrees and food boxes on the floor with no pallets underneath to separate the boxes from the blood and juices that had drained out of the thawed food onto the floor.

The Newton County Health Department was called into assist and Nancy Miller and Jill Johnson along with Mike Parrish from the Newton County Sanitarium arrived and made the decision to destroy the contaminated boxes of meat and other foods.

The truck was escorted down to the Right Way Disposal on 9th Street in Lafayette, Indiana where all the contains of the load were destroyed except for the canned goods and the paper and plastic products. The decision was made with the guidance of the Indiana State Board of Health advisors because of cross contamination with the spoiled foods.

The total weight of food that was condemned was approximately 2,200 lbs. The truck was headed to deliver the food to grocery stores and restaurants in Indianapolis, Columbus, and Bloomington.

The driver was cited for Federal Motor Carrier Violation of insecure and leaky load and a warning for speeding. The driver and truck were released.