"It just looks nasty,” said a Rowland Academy eighth grader, who wishes to remain anonymous.
She isn’t happy with the food she’s being served at school, especially after a photo of a school cafeteria lunch went viral.
“The burgers and pink and don’t look like they’re cooked at all,” she said.
The photo was posted by a concerned parent, and other parents have also expressed concern after seeing it.
The student says the burgers at the school in Harrisburg look like this every day.
She says she has the last lunch of the day, and by the time she goes to get her food, the cafeteria runs out of other food options, and burgers are the only thing that is left.
“I get it and get an orange and then throw away the food and just eat the orange,” she said.
Southwest Foodservice Excellence, also known as SFE, released a statement explaining the burgers are delivered already fully-cooked.
Another statement from Tyson Foods, the manufacturer that supplies the burgers to SFE, says, "Sometimes fully-cooked meat can revert back to a pinkish color if it’s placed for an extended period of time in a high-temperature/low-oxygen container or appliance, such as a steam pan or holding oven."
At this point, the Harrisburg School District would not comment on how the burgers were prepared.
They referred us to the statements from SFE and Tyson Foods, which both assure the public the burgers are entirely safe to eat.
Students, though, tell us they’re not taking chances.
“Do you feel like you’re hungry all day at school?" the student was asked.
"Not really, because I still have the orange and milk and stuff, but most of the time, it is like I’m still hungry,” she replied.
SFE says they have investigated the situation, and are planning on sending out a regional chef to the school next week to provide continued training on how to prepare the food.