Michigan’s congressional delegation is voicing their outrage after members of the state’s National Guard deployed to protect the U.S. Capitol reported being fed meals that were undercooked and contained metal shavings.

In a letter Tuesday to Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the National Guard Bureau chief, the 14 House members called for either the contract with the food provider to be canceled and another company hired or for soldiers to be given per diems for food.

A staff sergeant told WXYZ-TV in Detroit that 74 different meals Sunday were found to have raw beef and that lunches had traces of metal in them. More than a dozen soldiers became sick after eating the food, and some were treated at the hospital, the station reported.

“[I]t is clear that these contracted meals are poorly prepared, oftentimes inedible, and highly inadequate to support our soldiers,” the lawmakers’ letter said. “It is completely unacceptable that our men and women serving in Washington D.C are being hospitalized due to the food they are being provided.”

In a statement Monday, the Michigan National Guard said that upon learning about the “unacceptable” quality of the food Gov. Gretchen Whitmer immediately called Acting Secretary of the Army John Whitley to express her concerns and other Michigan leaders were engaged with officials at the “highest levels of the federal government.”

“Every assurance was given that the issue would be addressed and corrected,” the statement said. 

Whitmer said Tuesday that it is her understanding the food quality has "dramatically improved” since.

The governor told reporters Wednesday that she plans to visit Washington on Friday and eat a meal with members of the National Guard. 

Rep. Brenda Lawrence, too, plans to eat with the soldiers this week to see the food for herself, WXYZ reported. 

“It’s completely unacceptable that our MI National Guardsmen are receiving low-quality, inadequate meals,” the Democrat wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “They’re working day & night to protect our Capitol, and they deserve a lot better. I’m getting to the bottom of this to ensure our guardsmen get the food they need & deserve.”

Michigan’s senators, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, also called the reports about poor quality “unacceptable” and vowed on Twitter this week to do their parts to help resolve the issue.

In a statement emailed to Spectrum News, the National Guard Bureau said: “Since January 6, there have been no National Guard members hospitalized because of illness from food with over 1.2 million meals served. Out of the 26,000 who were deployed and the 5,200 who remain, approximately 50 have been treated for gastrointestinal complaints. Six of them were treated as outpatients at military treatment facilities; others were handled at aid station set up as part of the Task Force.   

“The National Guard continues to closely monitor the quality and safety of meals provided to its personnel.”

A spokesman for the National Guard Bureau told Spectrum News that contracted food providers have been ordered to no longer use metal scrubbers to clean pots, in the event that was the source of the metal shavings.

According to Whitmer, 1,000 members of the state’s National Guard were deployed to Washington to assist U.S. Capitol Police in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot. Their deployment is scheduled to end March 12, and the governor has said she will not agree to an extension.