Putnam stated that, “the pass/fail system is a failure because an industry leader, who has highly trained and highly qualified, nationally renowned food safety standards ought not be mislabeled based on minor infractions.” This, despite the fact that these violations were not minor at all, and in fact, termed PRIORITY violations by Putnam’s own agency.
ABC reports that the “stores failing in 2016 had priority violations.” These violations included “rodent problems” and rodent feces in the store, food stored at “dangerous temperatures”, and “fly glue-strips hanging over exposed bread and other food in the bakery as well as live ants on the walls.”
The article states that Putnam received over $350,000 from the grocer and has made use of the company’s private jet.
“So we had to ask Putnam if all those contributions impacted his decision to remove grades the day after our story aired.
“So their contributions to your PAC and your campaigns over the years have not influenced your decision making?” asked ABC Action News I-Team producer Fran Gilpin. “Of course not,” Putnam said, “anymore than anyone else’s contributions influence.”
Given his stand with Big Sugar donors, these comments seem to be indicative of his attitude towards campaign benefactors.
