According to health officials, Washington State Burger Kings’ recent poor inspection results and undercooked burgers are linked to equipment issues. AP reports that that most of the problems cited in inspection reports were due to problems with a flame broiler and employees failing to discard undercooked patties.
Susan Shelton, environmental health specialist for the Benton Franklin Health District, said the district’s inspectors identified problems at a local Burger King in Kennewick about two years ago.
The restaurant was one of the first in the nation to have the new flame broiler equipment installed.
Shelton said the problem in a nutshell was one of being unfamiliar with the new technology.
"It wasn’t cooking to temperature because there were a lot of controls," she said. "When we started working with them, it was resolved."
It’s difficult to tell what happened within the chain’s sites but a change in process or equipment without supplementing with additional training on verification steps(and consequences) can lead to unsafe products and bad inspections. As a manager or internal corporate auditor it’s necessary to make sure the folks on the frontline know how to check to make sure the equipment is working like it is supposed to and that the culture of the restaurant values those checks.