Pieces of wire found in TPS school lunches

Pieces of wire brush found in mashed potatoes during lunch Wednesday at Tucumcari Public Schools prompted the district to pull the product off its shelves and alert the manufacturer.

Superintendent Aaron McKinney, in a social media post Wednesday to parents, said the pieces of wire brush were V-shaped and about 1 inch long.

“We have no report of any students ingesting the wire brushes at this time, but all products have been pulled from the shelves,” he wrote.

McKinney said Friday he knew of only a couple of instances where the wire brush pieces were found in freeze-dried mashed potatoes during lunch.

He said he was instructed by the manufacturer to pull all its product from the shelves. He said because the potato containers were sealed, that ruled out sabotage.

McKinney surmised the wires dropped into the potatoes accidentally during manufacturing.

McKinney said he took one wire to Trigg Memorial Hospital to show staff what it looked like in case they treated any children who ingested it and became ill.

“When you swallow a piece of wire like that, it can be serious for your stomach,” he said.

He said he was unaware of any other incidents with the potatoes.