Guard says Ky. prison 'slop' caused riot

LEXINGTON, Ky., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The company that supplied meals at a Kentucky prison takes issue with claims the quality of the chow triggered an August riot.

An Aramark Services spokesman said there was no clear evidence the melee at the Northpoint Training Center outside Lexington was caused by inmates' unhappiness with the quality and quantity of the institution's food.

"What you are hearing is anecdotal," Aramark spokeswoman Kristine Grow told The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal. "There has been no official finding as to the cause of the riot. Aramark stands by the quality of its service and its food."

A guard testified before a legislative panel this week that the Department of Corrections' statements that gang tensions triggered the violence were "bogus" and that the age-old complaint about prison food was the real issue.

"It was the food," Matt Hughes told the panel. "The food was slop."