Category Archives: Restaurant Inspection

Going public, Colorado-style: 16 sick with Salmonella at Oscar’s of Breckenridge

Posted on by
Reply

Kaeli Subberwal of Summit Daily reports that 16 employees and patrons at a popular Breckenridge taco bar came down with Salmonella poisoning in July. This outbreak led Summit County health officials to shut down the restaurant until the issue was addressed — a process that took six days.

Oscar’s of BreckenridgeMorgan Stovall had been working at Oscar’s of Breckenridge for only three shifts when the health inspectors arrived.

“I guess we knew we were getting a health inspection,” she said, “but we thought they would just come in and make sure we were using gloves and everything; but that health inspector came in with someone higher up who deals with outbreaks.”

The health inspection on July 15 was prompted by three cases of salmonella that were reported to the state health department after Oscar’s patrons went to their medical providers and were diagnosed with the foodborne illness.

“The only common exposure among the three confirmed illnesses is consuming food at Oscar’s restaurant during the week before becoming ill. Specifically, ill persons visited Oscar’s on July 1 and July 4,” read a letter from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to Amy Wineland, the director of Summit County Public Health.

Though Oscar’s is back in business, some workers are still suffering the consequences of the outbreak.

“It’s been nearly 3 weeks, and I’m still testing positive,” employee Brittany Doyne wrote in an email. “I feel I should be compensated for all 3 of my jobs, not just Oscar’s. I’m missing out on thousands of dollars I would have earned had Oscar’s not gotten me sick. Nearly all of what little savings I have is gone now.”

How the sick employees are being compensated while out of work is unclear.

Fine dining in Brisbane

Posted on by
Reply

A restaurant operator who was caught storing dodgy ice-cream balls and tenderising chicken at an ‘alarming’ temperature has been ordered to pay a hefty fine.

West End GardenMinh Tri Nguyen, who operates the restaurant West End Garden, was last week fined $37,500 in the Brisbane Magistrates Court after he pleaded guilty to a string of food safety violations.

Brisbane City Council authorities inspected the restaurant after five diners suffered food poisoning in January 2015.

Council prosecutor Mark Thomas had previously told the court that authorities had found ice cream balls, a tea towel and dish cloth contaminated with salmonella.

He also said chicken and beef had been found tenderising in a sink at a dangerous temperature.

First Denmark, now Norway for smiley-faced restaurant ratings

Posted on by
Reply

Nina Berglund of News in English.no reports inspectors from Norway’s state food safety agency Mattilsynet had little to smile about after their most recent visits to 1,100 restaurants in the Oslo area. Six out of 10 restaurants failed to earn the smiley face insignia that symbolizes good hygiene.

rest.inspection.smile.norway.aug.16Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported Thursday that only 41 percent of the eating places inspected by Mattilsynet in Oslo, Asker and Bærum were awarded the smiley face, which means they met the authorities’ standards for good hygiene.

“We of course wished that the results were better, but we’re not surprised,” Marit Kolle, division chief at Mattilsynet, told NRK. The results show a decline from national inspections earlier this year, when more than 60 percent did well and received smiley faces.

Kolle said that half the restaurants inspected most recently were given a straight face, after inspectors found deficiencies and errors in hygienic routines. “Those establishments get a warning from us that they must improve their routines,” Kolle said.

Another 9 percent were hit with a sour face symbol, meaning they flunked the hygiene inspection. Inspectors can close them on the spot if the violations are severe, or fine them.

The system of symbolizing the hygiene of restaurants was launched January 1 as a means of advising patrons about food safety inspection results. After an initial round of visits to 2,279 restaurants nationwide, around a third failed to win smiley faces.

The restaurants are obliged to post the smiley-, straight- or sour-faced symbols at their front doors. NRK reported earlier this year that Mattilsynet inspectors claimed many were failing to do so, thus “sabotaging” the program.

Restaurant inspection results are also made public on the state agency’s own website, matportalen.no/smilefjes.

smiley.faces.denmark.rest.inspection

Lawsuit filed over 2014 Salmonella outbreak

Posted on by
Reply

Outbreaks cost businesses a lot: loss of reputation; bad publicity; fines, and legal woes.

According to FOX 32, two separate lawsuits have been filed following a 2014 cluster of Salmonella associated with Urban Esencia Kitchen.71d3dd3d33a2a5f586a6e98c0e7089c2

Nathan Sanders and Sara Lindsay claim in one suit that they ate at Urban Esencia Kitchen on Aug. 14, 2014. The following day, they began to suffer severe stomach cramps, chills and fever; and could not eat. Both received extensive medical treatment over the next several days and Lindsay tested positive for Salmonella, according to the suit.

Hunter Lehr claims he contracted salmonella after eating at the restaurant on August 13, 2014. The next day, Lehr began to suffer severe the same symptoms and coud not eat. He was admitted to the hospital for one week and tested positive for salmonella, the suit stated.

Each 3-count suit charges the restaurant with negligence, strict liability, and breach of implied warranty; and seeks a minimum of $90,000 in damages.

Fancy food ain’t safe food: Science to back up anectodes

Posted on by
Reply

In the wonderful way the Intertubes can be used to reinforce pre-existing biases, a new paper in PLOS Currents Outbreaks validates what I – and anyone who knows anything about food safety – have been saying for a long time: Fancy food ain’t safe food.

heston_blumenthalIntroduction: Restaurant guides such as the Good Food Guide Top 50 create a hierarchy focussing on taste and sophistication. Safety is not explicitly included. We used restaurant associated outbreaks to assess evidence for safety.

Methods: All foodborne disease outbreaks in England reported to the national database from 2000 to 2014 were used to compare the Top 50 restaurants (2015) to other registered food businesses using the Public Health England (PHE) outbreak database. Health Protection Teams were also contacted to identify any outbreaks not reported to the national database. Among Good Food Guide Top 50 restaurants, regression analysis estimated the association between outbreak occurrence and position on the list.

Results: Four outbreaks were reported to the PHE national outbreak database among the Top 50 giving a rate 39 times higher (95% CI 14.5–103.2) than other registered food businesses. Eight outbreaks among the 44 English restaurants in the Top 50 were identified by direct contact with local Health Protection Teams. For every ten places higher ranked, Top 50 restaurants were 66% more likely to have an outbreak (Odds Ratio 1.66, 95% CI 0.89–3.13).

Discussion: Top 50 restaurants were substantially more likely to have had reported outbreaks from 2000-2014 than other food premises, and there was a trend for higher rating position to be associated with higher probability of reported outbreaks. Our findings, that eating at some of these restaurants may pose an increased risk to health compared to other dining out, raises the question of whether food guides should consider aspects of food safety alongside the clearly important complementary focus on taste and other aspects of the dining experience.

Taste and safety: Is the exceptional cuisine offered by high end restaurants paralleled by high standards of food safety?

02.aug.2016

Sanch Kanagarajah, Piers Mook, Paul Crook, Adedoyin Awofisayo-Okuyelu, Noel McCarthy

PLOS Currents Outbreaks. August 2016. Edition 1. doi: 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.007219ac3b9a2117418df7ab629686b6.

Taste and Safety: Is the Exceptional Cuisine Offered by High End Restaurants Paralleled by High Standards of Food Safety?

E. coli free, Carbón Live reopens a month after outbreak

Posted on by
Reply

After more than a month, a handful of lawsuits and 68 customers affected from E. coli, Ashok Selvam of Eater reports Chicago’s health department has ruled that Carbón Live Mexican Grill can reopen.

Carbón Live Mexican GrillHowever, DNAinfo reported that the health department couldn’t determine the source of the bacteria that sickened customers. The Bridgeport restaurant had been closed since late June’s outbreak.

The owners of Carbón haven’t publicly commented since their restaurant closed, and there’s no mention on their social media channels. The health department did day that they fully cooperated with officials. They temporarily closed their West Town location and also withdrew as a vendor at The Taste of Chicago as cautionary measures.

Attorneys circled around affected customers, looking for new clients to represent in lawsuits against the restaurant. There haven’t been any updates on those cases.

Boston inspector resigns in food-safety scandal

Posted on by
Reply

Keith Eddings of the Eagle-Tribune, reports the city code inspector accused of selling bogus food safety certificates to employees at restaurants and bodegas resigned on Monday, two weeks after Mayor Daniel Rivera put him on paid leave as the first of the phony certificates was found at Noelia Market on East Haverhill Street.

sscertificateAlso this week, the National Restaurant Association, whose ServSafe program trains and tests millions of employees in food safety nationwide, told the city it will invalidate all 497 certificates that the inspector, Jorge De Jesus, issued in Lawrence over the last five years.

De Jesus issued the licenses on behalf of the Restaurant Association, not the city, but the city requires them from merchants seeking the common victualler license needed to sell food. That made it a conflict of interest for De Jesus to issue even valid certificates in Lawrence, Assistant City Attorney Brian Corrigan said.

City Inspectional Services Director Pat Ruiz said he so far has found 25 ServSafe certificates that he believes De Jesus sold to merchants without putting them through the course and exam required for the certificates, but he said determining the validity of the certificates has been time-consuming and inconclusive. He said a better option is to invalidate all 497 certificates De Jesus issued and require the employees holding them to take the course and pass the test.

Ruiz said the Restaurant Association told him Tuesday that it is notifying the 497 certificate holders this week that their certificates are being revoked, and will offer them the food safety course without charge over the next few weeks. The association could not be reached late Tuesday, but a spokeswoman said last week that it has suspended De Jesus from the ServSafe program pending its own investigation and is taking the issue “very seriously.”

Rivera said the merchants who bought a ServSafe certificate from De Jesus without taking the required course and passing an exam are victims of De Jesus’ scam and would not be punished.

“We’re focusing on the bad actor, not the victims of this,” Rivera said.

De Jesus was a teacher and proctor in the ServSafe program and so had access to the certificates. He was charging merchants as much as $450 for a bogus certificate, Corrigan said. The course lasts just a few hours and typically costs less than $100. 

The ServSafe types at the National Restaurant Association, who apparently don’t like to post on blogs like barfblog.com,  sent me a note saying:

“DeJesus had an independent business and one of his activities was providing food safety classes.  He used some of our ServSafe materials and signed an agreement indicating that he would use them in a responsible and ethical manner. Once we found he was not in compliance with that agreement, he was no longer authorized to use our materials. He was never hired or paid by the Association and was not our employee.”

About time: Boston restaurants could face steep fine if they don’t post food safety

Posted on by
Reply

Matt Rocheleau of the Boston Globe reports that Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh is asking the City Council for approval to fine restaurants $300 per day if they fail to post their food safety inspection letter grades in their storefronts.

ny_rest_inspect_disclosureRestaurants and food trucks would have a year to comply after the launch of the letter-grade system being developed for restaurants citywide, though the grades would be available on the city’s website.

The city’s Inspectional Services Department has been developing the program. Officials there have said restaurants would receive either an A, B, or C grade.

The program would resemble rating systems that New York, Los Angeles, and other cities have been using since as early as the late 1990s. Locally, Newton launched a similar program in the fall that requires numerical ratings to be displayed inside restaurants.

Boston officials have previously told the Globe that letter grades will be issued to all of the city’s roughly 3,000 food establishments, including restaurants, food trucks, cafeterias, and other food vendors.

When an establishment gets a low grade, inspectors will return within 30 days to reinspect, city officials have said. If the violations are corrected, the city would bump up the grade accordingly. If the issues remain, the grade would stand until the next routine inspection, officials have said.

Restaurants would be subject to the $300 fines if they fail to post their letter grades “immediately after receipt, unobstructed, at eye-level, facing outward on an exterior-facing wall or window within five feet of the main entrance in the interior of the restaurant,” according to Walsh’s proposal to the council, which was previously reported on by the Universal Hub website.

The council is due to take up the matter at a meeting in City Hall on Wednesday.

The new rating system would not cost the city any extra money, city officials have said, because it would calculate grades based on the existing system used to inspect restaurants.

 

Food service workers in Mass. will be retrained after bogus certificates surface

Posted on by
1

Keith Eddings of the Eagle-Tribune writes the U.S. National Restaurant Association on Friday agreed to train without charge about 170 employees at bodegas, restaurants and other food-service establishments in the city who received certificates in safe food handling from a consultant accused of selling bogus documents for as much as $450.

jesus_nobody_fucksThe association also said it suspended the consultant, Jorge De Jesus, whom it had hired to teach the courses and administer the exams needed to receive a so-called ServSafe certificate from the association.

De Jesus also was suspended with pay from his $51,602-a-year job as a code inspector for the city’s Inspectional Services department after a bogus ServSafe certificate found at Noelia Market on Lawrence Street was traced to him. The city shut the bodega last week. 

The certificates are issued by the association, not the city, but the city requires them from merchants seeking the common victualler license needed to sell food. That made it a conflict of interest for De Jesus to issue even valid certificates in Lawrence, Assistant City Attorney Brian Corrigan said.

The shit public health inspectors go through – Canadian edition

Posted on by
Reply

Valerie MacDonald of Northumberland Today reports that a man charged with obstructing a public health inspector from entering a premises to be inspected, plus breach of probation, has been found guilty, fined $4,000, jailed for a day and put on probation.

public.health.inspectorThe judgement issued by Justice of the Peace Patricia McHenry against William David Barth of Colborne was under the Health Protection and Prevention Act and Provincial Offences Act and took place earlier this month in a Cobourg courtroom.

The offences dated back to Dec. 14, 2015.

Haliburton, Kawartha and Pine Ridge District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lynn Noseworthy reported the case to the board of health last February and note that in any subsequent cases public health inspectors would apply for a warrant to “gain entry with police assistance.”

Asked about the case, local health unit spokesperson Bill Eekhoff provided this statement:

“The Health Unit works in partnership with local food premise operators to ensure they follow proper protocols and regulations when it comes to food safety. The Health Unit has a legal responsibility to ensure food being prepared, served, sold, or provided to the public is not going to pose a health or safety risk.

“In cases where food operators are not complying with the legislation or obstructing the work of public health inspectors, the Health Unit may have to take legal action to ensure food safety regulations are followed so that people’s health is not put at risk.”

In addition to the hefty fine for obstructing entry, Barth was ordered to serve a single day in jail, and was put on probation for a year.