Costa strikes: Orlando s Action 9 investigates dirty dining

WFTV — Action 9 in Orlando, Florida – goes behind the kitchen doors of local restaurants, where state inspectors kept finding conditions that could make somebody sick. Have these restaurants cleaned up their act?

I love the erstwhile drama of local news.

Bugs crawling on dish towels; raw fish on the floor; cooked food at risky temperatures. Those are some of the conditions Action 9 uncovered at local restaurants that had routinely failed state inspections.

Retired state restaurant inspector Roy Costa (right, exactly as whown) joined Action 9’s Todd Ulrich inside the kitchen at Dim Sum Feast near Orlando.

Just three months ago, the state shut Dim Sum Feast down temporarily after an inspector found raw waste water on the floor and employees tracked it through the kitchen.

While Action 9 saw improved conditions, the inspector found big problems remain. He said shrimp thawing in stagnant water and frozen chicken stacked on racks could breed bacteria.

In the cooler was uncovered, uncooked meat that was stored over ready-to-eat food and that leads to cross contamination. Costa spotted undiluted bleach in a bottle to spray counters. He called that extremely risky.

“[He] sprays it on a food contact service area and prepares something and soaks it and then serves it to somebody,” Costa explained.

New China Buffet is a restaurant that flunked seven state inspections in two years and it would have failed Action 9’s test again.

Managers at New China Buffet and Dim Sum told Action 9 they’ve improved and their kitchens are safe.

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time