Just last week, Donald Trump announced that if he’s elected President, he would virtually eliminate what he referred to as the “FDA Food Police” that are charged with protecting the food we all consume in this country. And when you consider that Trump restaurants have been repeatedly caught serving dirty, roach-infested, and even deadly food over the years, that’s not the least bit surprising.
A report in The Daily Beast recounts that in 1990, Thomas Purgatorio dined at Buffet by the Sea in Trump’s Castle Hotel and Casino. Four months later, Purgatorio was dead of organ failure brought about by eating “salmonella-tainted mousse.”
Purgatorio’s widow later filed an $11 million lawsuit against Trump’s Castle, and the suit was settled for a fraction of the original amount. Attorneys for Trump argued that Mr. Purgatorio’s death was the result of a pre-existing heart condition. And Trump attorney Alan Kaplan said that eggs in the mousse caused the salmonella. Yet such matters are exactly the kind of thing the FDA seeks to prevent.
And for decades, restaurants owned by Trump have been repeatedly cited for violations which include serving month-old caviar, expired veal stock and yogurt, and eggs, cream and sausages that had been stored at unsafe temperatures:
“The DJT restaurant in the Trump hotel (in Las Vegas)…is indeed in a class by itself this week, receiving the highest number of demerits of all restaurants health inspectors visited.”
We all recall seeing the incredibly insensitive photo Trump tweeted out on Cinco de Mayo this year. In it, Trump was seen eating a taco bowl which came from Trump Cafe and Grill in Trump Tower. A week after that photo was posted, that very same restaurant was cited by health inspectors for live roaches in the food prep area.
In 1992, Trump properties in Atlantic City had “the worst track record for food-related health problems among Atlantic City’s 12 casinos.” That included five salmonella outbreaks which dated back as far as 1984. At the time, a city health inspector noted:
“We find it highly unusual that most of our problems in Atlantic City have been associated with the Trump properties. The physical part of the [establishments] is top-of-the-line but it all boils down to extremely poor food handling.”
All of this begs the question: If Trump were President and had a willing GOP-controlled Congress on his side, would anything we consume be safe?
Featured Image Via New York Daily News
