Rossen Reports: Some trucks carry unsafe food, authorities say

Video: Hidden health hazards in food delivery trucks

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   >>> back at 7:43. this morning on ""rossen reports." the trucks that deliver your food may be putting your health at risk. good morning, jeff.

   >> reporter: when we go to the grocery store and go to the restaurant, we assume the food is fresh. who would ever think it may have been spoiling in a hot and humid truck on the way to the store? i've been tracking the story for over a year. we found that last summer trucks carrying unsafe food bound for your breakfast table. now police say it's actually getting worse. we're on patrol with the indiana state police . no radar gun. we're going to pull him over right now.

   >> yes.

   >> reporter: instead officer kelly is armed with a food thermometer.

   >> i'm getting an initial temperature of 53 degrees in your trailer. this summer's been particularly bad.

   >> reporter: indiana . if you eat it, it was likely hauled through here pu but if the units are off, food can turn foul. on our first stop, trouble. police athis truck's refrigerator isn't working properly. by law the food should be at a cool 41 degrees. some of it was pushing 60.

   >> we have sour cream, we have cheese, we have dairy drinking right here.

   >> reporter: and these are all over temperature?

   >> yes.

   >> reporter: and there are yogurts in here, too, for kids. all destined for a dozen grocery stores . local officials condemn it and chuck it. remember, you could have eaten this. the driver told me he's actually relieved the cops stopped him.

   >> reporter: it's good this food didn't make it to the stores, it could have made people sick.

   >> i'm glad it didn't make it.

   >> reporter: his company tells me it monitors food temperatures carefully and claims the driver would have disposed of bad food before delivering it. how dangerous is this?

   >> it's very dangerous. somebody could actually die by consuming some of this food. we're playing russian ruoulette with our food supply .

   >> reporter: how fast is the bacteria growing in the back of these trucks?

   >> growing roughly every 20 minutes .

   >> reporter: that fast?

   >> that fast.

   >> reporter: and the worst is yet to come.

   >> that's not even water.

   >> reporter: this truck's refrigerator is broken. the inside temperature? 101 degrees. meat and chicken are even atract attracting supplies. police find raw meat with juices dripping through the box. even if watched, it could still make you sick.

   >> this is all from the chicken stuff that ran off to the floor.

   >> reporter: this food was headed to popular chinese restaurants in indiana . not anymore. the trucking company didn't return our calls. while police did find many trucks doing the right thing --

   >> we're at 35 degrees inside the trailer, which is absolutely fine.

   >> reporter: too many are in violation. cops say some companies actually shut off their refrigeration systems on purpose.

   >> these systems run off the diesel fuel . they shut them off to save money.

   >> reporter: this trucker claimed his refrigerator wasn't working. but as we were shooting, he suddenly turns it on.

   >> reporter: jeff rossen from nbc news. why was your refrigeration unit off? can you talk with us?

   >> i can't speak with you.

   >> reporter: his company told us the refraj rateor was on when he left the warehouse and called it a mechanical problem.

   >> they save a few dollars here and there with us at risk.

   >> reporter: today indiana is one of the own states targeting these food trucks . believe it or not there is little federal oversight and state police captain wayne andrews is boiling.

   >> the feds are not doing their job. it's been left to the states to fix the problem.

   >> reporter: in 2005 congress told the fda to come up with stricter guidelines for food trucks . almost seven years later the fda hasn't done it. congress even set a new dead line of july 2012 , last month, and still nothing. the fda declined to go on camera

   but sent us this e-mail: the rule making process it can take time and we are working diligently to strengthen and modernize our food safety system.

   >> if this doesn't make them act, i don't know what would.

   >> and until there's action, police say for every truck they stop, countless more get away, most of it headed for restaurants and groceries stores. by the way, the responsibility lace on the grocery stores and restaurants to their food as well. they're not doing this

   >>

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