Truck stopped on I-70 loaded with food at unsafe temperature
CLOVERDALE -- A refrigerated box delivery truck, stopped for routine inspection along Interstate 70, was discovered transporting food at unsafe temperatures Thursday morning.
Master Trooper Kent Winstead, an Indiana State Police commercial vehicle enforcement officer, stopped a 2005 Mitsubishi refrigerated box truck on westbound Interstate 70, near the 37-mile marker.
During an inspection that followed the 9:13 a.m. stop, the refrigerator unit of the truck was found not operating, resulting in 60 dozen eggs and 60 pounds of cream cheese being transported at temperatures of 57 degrees, above the State of Indiana food transportation safety limits.
The Putnam County Health Department was contacted and investigator Darrell Brackney assisted the ISP units at the scene, about four miles west of Cloverdale.
The eggs and cream cheese on board were confiscated and destroyed via a garbage disposal facility. The remaining non-perishable items, including cooking oils and vegetables, were not confiscated.
Temperatures for eggs are required to be at 45 degrees or below and cream cheese must be 41 degrees or below.
The driver, Dong Xie, 39, of San Gabriel, Calif., was cited as a non-English speaking commercial driver and operating a vehicle transporting food, not in compliance with Health Department rules for food transportation, both infraction violations.
The driver was placed out of service. Arrangements for another driver were made.
The load originated in Cincinnati under the name of Eternal Trading Co. and was bound for Asian-style restaurant stops in Terre Haute and Attica, as well as Charleston and Danville, Ill.
Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officers are issued Sixth Sense brand infrared thermometers, model LT 300, for checking food temperatures.
Assisting at the scene were Indiana State Police Master Trooper Matt Ames, ISP Sgt. Joe Watts, and Putnam County Health Department Investigator Brackney.