When I was in prison 37 years ago, it had its own canning unit. Prisons have always been de facto work camps, and food is where the laborers were needed. Lotsa rumors about saltpeter, the daily horse chestnuts (canned plums) and whatever else could be thrown in a minimal cost.

It’s only gotten worse as privitization has taken over.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky said: “The degree of civilisation in a society is revealed by entering its prisons.”

According to Yusuke Kaite of The Mainichi 621 inmates recently suffered food poisoning at Kyoto Prison, the municipal government announced on July 4.

Although the exact cause was not identified, the city declared the outbreak a case of mass food poisoning, and banned the use of food facilities at the prison for three days.

Men from the ages of 26 to 76 suffered symptoms such as diarrhea and stomachaches from the morning of June 28 after food was cooked in the kitchen by 24 inmates. A total of 1,132 inmates and others had meals made at the kitchen at the time.