Health

You Won’t Believe What Delta Passengers Found in Their Turkey Sandwiches

MINNEAPOLIS (The Blaze/AP) — Airline food may be notorious for not being the best of cuisine, but it’s not poor flavor that has passengers feeling prickly of late. On flights over the weekend, sandwiches served aboard four Delta Air Lines flights were found to have needles embedded in them.

(Related: Wife Sues Claiming Airline Food Killed Her Husband)

Now, Delta and the FBI are trying to figure out how needles got into turkey sandwiches served on the flights from Amsterdam. One passenger was injured.

Needles Found in Turkey Sandwiches on Four Delta Flights

Needle shown inside one of the turkey sandwiches. (Image: ABC News screenshot)

The airline said that what appear to be sewing needles were found in five sandwiches on Sunday. One passenger on a flight to Minneapolis was injured, but the passenger declined to get medical attention, according to Delta spokeswoman Kristin Baur. The other needles were on two flights to Atlanta and one to Seattle.

Watch the ABC News report with an interview from one of the unlucky business class passengers who received a needle in his sandwich:

Needles Found in Turkey Sandwiches on Four Delta Flightsvideo platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

James Tonges said to ABC News he felt the needle on his second bite.

“I bit down and felt a poke in the top of my mouth,” Tonges said. When I pulled it out, it was very clear. I cleaned the food off. It was about a 1-inch long straight needle.”

Needles Found in Turkey Sandwiches on Four Delta Flights

James Tonges (Image: ABC News screenshot)

Tonges continued saying at the moment he feels “OK,” but he has been warned to watch for symptoms.

“It’s just kind of a wait and see game now,” Tonges said.

The FBI’s Atlanta office has opened a criminal investigation into the matter, the agency said in a written statement. An FBI spokesman in Atlanta did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Baur said flight attendants stopped serving the sandwiches as soon as the needle was discovered. Messages went out to other flights en route from Amsterdam, where the sandwiches had been prepared by a catering company. Another sandwich served on the Minneapolis-bound flight also had a needle, Baur said.

After the needles were found, passengers got pizza instead.

Needles Found in Turkey Sandwiches on Four Delta Flights

The needles were described as 1-inch long straight needles. (Image: ABC News screenshot)

Baur said security for its meal production has been increased and it is using more prepackaged food while the investigation continues.

“Delta is taking this matter extremely seriously and is cooperating with local and federal authorities who are investigating the incident. Delta has taken immediate action with our in-flight caterer at Amsterdam to ensure the safety and quality of the food we provide onboard our aircraft,” the airline said in a written statement.

The sandwiches were made in the Amsterdam kitchen of catering company Gate Gourmet, and were to be served to business class passengers on Delta flights.

Gate Gourmet spokeswoman Christina Ulosevich said the company has gotten no reports of similar incidents on any of the other airlines it serves out of Amsterdam. She said the company did not yet know how the needles got into the sandwiches.

Gate Gourmet issued a statement saying, “We take this matter very seriously, and we have launched our own full-scale investigation.“ It also said it was ”heightening our already stringent safety and security procedures, to prevent any recurrence.”

(H/T: Huffington Post)

Comments (28)

  • IsThereADifference
    Posted on July 18, 2012 at 2:55pm

    Yea that is so cool Blaze.

    I love reading through an article and finding an add pasted right over the middle of the story.

    I swear this site is just another way for Glenn to stuff his pockets with advertising dollars.

    Beck is a turd sandwich. The outside looks tasty and delicious. You don’t realize what your getting into until you get through the outer layer.

    Report Post » IsThereADifference  
  • LOJ
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 5:47pm

    This is terrorism and didn’t the sandwiches get made in Amsterdam? There are alot of muslims there, Gert Wilders is always fighting with them..and their Jihadis who want to do away with him.

    Report Post »  
  • pavepaws
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 4:42pm

    Interesting that both victims were related but on different flights.

    Report Post »  
  • Aerocog
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 1:46pm

    Glad he found that, it would‘ve been one nasty trip to hospital if he hadn’t.

    Report Post »  
    • Joey Odendahl
      Posted on July 18, 2012 at 4:53am

      Yeah, that’s a scary thought… especially since they were probably over an ocean at the time. How long would it have taken to find medical help? Ouch.

      Report Post » Joey Odendahl  
  • MaineOnFire
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 1:12pm

    …and aren’t drugs legal in Amsterdam? Don’t tell me there is no connection. I do not believe in “coincidences”. If these were sewing needles, it is STILL A FACT that drugs are legal in Amsterdam.

    Report Post » MaineOnFire  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 12:20pm

    Catch the guy responisble and stick about 100 needles in him in real sensitive areas.

    Report Post »  
  • AvengerK
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 11:00am

    Should have ordered the Kosher meal.

    Report Post »  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on July 17, 2012 at 12:52pm

      Thought it was talking about the other type of “turkey”(O’bama). He opened his sandwich and a guey telleprompter fell out! ):-)

      Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 10:13am

    Blame Bush…..

    Report Post »  
  • Daveed
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 10:08am

    How Horrendous. Why would we think those were not infected needles. Anyone who would do that would steal, kill and murder.
    Was it strange that the one of the passengers who got poked in the mouth with a needle did not want medical attention and just left. Might want to check out that person. I would want to go to a hospital and get checked out HIV and poisons and bacteria. Take a culture. Gosh darn do something! Take blood, Clean out the mouth with anti-biotic rinse, gosh get anti-biotic injection. Something people, don’t just sit there and say we have to wait and see. Balderdash!

    Report Post »  
  • thekuligs
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 9:59am

    Well heck, they got to put SOMETHING in it to make it worth $15

    Report Post » thekuligs  
    • Joey Odendahl
      Posted on July 18, 2012 at 4:55am

      Yeah, maybe if the needle was made of gold I’d actually buy those terrible sandwiches.

      Report Post » Joey Odendahl  
  • RightPolitically
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 9:15am

    I’d be willing to bet that the catering company in Amsterdam that supplied the sandwiches has plenty of Muslims preparing the food. While it might just be an isolated “insane” act of vindictiveness, I think not!

    Report Post » RightPolitically  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on July 17, 2012 at 12:15pm

      or all of that legal drug use in the area, I am sure that leads to great decisions on the part of the participants. lucky it wasn’t drugs or drug needles in the sandwiches.

      Report Post »  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 8:48am

    “Gate Gourmet spokeswoman Christina Ulosevich said the company has gotten no reports of similar incidents on any of the other airlines it serves out of Amsterdam. She said the company did not yet know how the needles got into the sandwiches.”

    She said this cause it has not happened or not reported yet…so it’s the driver…the loader the guy with a floor jack? Got separate lines to set up food for different airlines?

    Bookem Danno and let us know who it is…

    Report Post » SamIamTwo  
  • sWampy
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 8:47am

    Legal use of drugs, sure helps make a safe loving society.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 8:42am

    Okay now the inevitable questions that have to be asked about this matter concerning the needles in the sandwiches:

    Someone seeking to send a message, say a disgruntled employee of the catering company?
    Someone conducting another test to see if security has another open window for future attacks, in this case with a biological or chemical substance?

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • KangarooJack
      Posted on July 17, 2012 at 10:06am

      BINGO!

      “Fishing boat” testing chain of command and IF IF we will fire back.
      Check out Detroit news for the past week. I haven’t seen anything about two rather important events on The Blaze.

      Report Post » KangarooJack  
  • rede911
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 8:27am

    I really don’t think I will be wanting a turkey sandwich again soon. Seriously, it makes me cringe to think about finding a needle in my food. How could someone bring themselves to do this? I hope they find whoever did this and make him swallow needles. http://www.bigrede.com

    Report Post »  
  • IOWAGIR
    Posted on July 17, 2012 at 8:16am

    Wow! That is disturbing. I hope whoever is resposible is caught. I pray that the needles weren’t contaminated with any kind of harmful agents.

    Report Post »  

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