President Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf club is taking a swing at the Somerset County Department of Health after the agency reported 18 violations, with half possibly resulting in “an unacceptable health risk.”
The inspection results last month were first reported by Forbes. The President’s National Golf Club in Bedminster scored 32 out of a 100, one of the lowest scores of any establishment in the county.
Among the violations were expired milk in refrigerators, improperly stored raw meat, a faulty dishwasher, a sink without soap, and salted butter left out, to name a few. The New York Times reported that the club cleaned up its act, and in a follow-up visit, it earned a score of 86, or a “B” rating.
But problems remained. The inspector found milk and coffee creamers at 50 degrees instead of the required 41 degrees and mops stored in buckets. They are required to be hung to air dry when not in use. Wet wiping cloths were also not stored in sanitizing solution.
The director of Health for Somerset County, Michael McCarty, told My Central Jersey news outlet that reinspections are common and usually occur within two to four weeks of an initial inspection.
But the inspection riled up officials at the club. “This is nothing more than a politically motivated attack,” the club’s general manager, David Schutzenhofer, said in a statement.
“Never before have we witnessed such visceral hostility from the Health Department,” Schutzenhofer said.
“We operate one of the most immaculate golf facilities in the country, and we take immense pride in our standards of cleanliness, safety and hospitality,” he added.
The worst findings included improper “separation of raw meat and raw eggs from ready-to-eat food,” “food protected from contamination,” and “food contact surfaces properly cleaned,” HuffPost reported. The county health inspector reported after the first inspection that the chef in charge did not “demonstrate knowledge of food safety.”
Social media did not hold back. “This ‘luxury’ golf resort should be SHUT DOWN with a score of 32 out of 100! He probably bribed someone to let this unsafe, unhealthy, violation-ridden place stay open for the rich patrons,” an X user posted.
“’[The person in charge] fails to demonstrate knowledge of food safety,’ the inspector noted amid the volume and severity of the violations, which is a violation in and of itself under the health code,” said another.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says proper food safety measures can help prevent foodborne illnesses. Thousands of people are hospitalized every year from food-related illnesses and thousands more die. According to the USDA, the agency reviews 48 million cases every year and reports 128,000 hospitalizations and more than 3,000 deaths annually from these types of illnesses.
