COLUMBIA STATION, Ohio -- It's the one report card that parents never get to see, until now. A 5 On Your Side investigation goes inside school lunchrooms in every school in every district.

Investigator Ron Regan reported that 5,000 Americans die from food poisoning every year. That's why both schools and health inspectors agree that there's no room for mistakes when it comes to children.

Every day, thousands of children in northeast Ohio depend on school cafeterias for lunch. Parents trust they're serving food that's safe.

Regan's investigation found serious violations of Ohio's health codes at school cafeterias all over the area.

He reviewed inspection records for 765 schools in nine counties. NewsChannel5 found one in 10 schools had health code violations so serious they could cause potentially deadly food borne illnesses.

"After hearing that, it makes me want to pack my daughter's lunch," one parent said.

For example, Regan found food stored at improper temperatures, undated lunch meat and coolers failing to keep milk cold. However, the most common health code violation was dishwashers in 40 schools that were failing to sanitize. The dishwater was not hot enough to kill germs and bacteria.

"All your plates and utensiles are going into this dish machine. If they are not propertly being cleaned and sanitized, it's not going to kill the pathogens that are on the plates and utensils that the students and all the people use. So improper cleaning of those can spread illness," health inspector Paul Desario said.

In Columbia Station, one of the smallest districts, the elementary, middle and high schools were all cited for dishwashers that failed to sanitize.

Regan showed the district superintendent what he found.

Regan: "Should that be monitored more closely in your view?"

Superintendent John Kuhn: "Well, I certainly am glad the health department brought to our attention that we need to check these dishwashers out more closely, and I think we do absolutely need to pay close attention to what's going on because its absolutely related to health and safety of students."

Barbara Kowalcyk's son died from food poisoning and now she leads a national consumer group fighting for improved food safety.

"So the fact that they have dishwashers that are not meeting sanitation temperatures is very concerning. Children are at the highest risk of developing food-borne illnesses," Kowalcyk said.

She said that left unrepaired, food-borne illnesses would quickly spread.

Biologist Dr. Valerie Flechtner at John Carroll University showed how in just 48 hours, the culture in the dish was teaming with E. coli bacteria.

"There are some intestinal pathogens that can make you sick if fewer that 100 organisms get into your body. And 100 organisms would be present in a 10th of a drop of water," Flechtner said.

Regan then checked to see how many students have been sickened by food-borne outbreaks at Ohio schools.

NewsChannel5 obtained an exclusive database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since 2000, 362 cases of food-borne illnesses have been reported in 14 outbreaks at Ohio schools.

Last Year:

• Northwood Junior High in Elyria -- Five students became ill after eating mashed potatoes tainted with a suspected chemical.
• Vocational high school in Oberlin -- 14 students became ill where food was prepared and eaten in a classroom restaurant.
• Loudenville High School in Ashland County -- 21 got sick when a creamed turkey dinner wasn't kept hot enough.

"Her kidneys completely stopped working," said Courtney Dixon.

She was 2 years old when she nearly died from a food-borne illness. While it was not at school, her mother insists that even one health code violation is too many when it comes to children.

"It shouldn't happen. I'm telling you, it should not happen," Dixon's mother, Tracy, said.

Health inspectors said schools move quickly to address any health code violations that are found, including those Regan found in the reports.

His investigation also found that Ohio ranks ninth in the nation when it comes to food poisoning and school children.

Check health inspector records for your child's school here.