Atlanta café sucks at handwashing

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Multiple food prep employees at Saigon Cafe in Buford were only rinsing their hands briefly in cold water while prepping food during a recent inspection, leading to a failing health score.

The Gwinnett County health inspector said another employee touched raw beef with gloved hands, then took off the gloves to handle ready-to-eat foods but didn’t wash his hands to ensure they were free of contaminants.

The inspector said there was no managerial control over food safety at the restaurant. Saigon Cafe, 3380 Buford Drive, scored 44/U on the routine inspection. Previous scores were 85/B and 80/B.

Points were also taken off because improper cooling methods were being used for potentially hazardous foods. Cooked chicken, pork and chicken broth were all discarded because they had not cooled sufficiently in the time allowed.

Several items in coolers were not separated to prevent contamination. Unwashed fruits and vegetables were not separated from the ready-to-eat foods, and loosely wrapped packages of raw pork spring rolls and vegetable spring rolls were stacked together.

‘Cockroaches instead of soap in dispensers’ Australian restaurant in tourist mecca fined 17K

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A Sunshine Coast venue, which serves seafood, carvery, salads and Asian, has been labelled one of the worst cases of poor food hygiene.

Centrepoint Buffet’s owner Jin Xi Jerry Li was fined $17,000 in Caloundra Magistrates Court yesterday after pleading guilty to nine charges for unhygienic practices and filthy premises.

The court heard the well-known kitchen was crawling with cockroaches that had access to food. Fixtures and equipment like stoves were soiled by food residue and waste, while the floors, walls and ceiling were layered in “significant dirt”.

The soap dispenser, which is a legal requirement for use by kitchen staff, had no soap.

“But when you pressed it, cockroaches came out of it,” the council’s solicitor Michael Heiner said.

Defence lawyer Matthew Tutt said his client had never been prosecuted in his 28 years in the industry.

35 people sick at New York wedding reception

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A suspected food poisoning outbreak at a wedding reception Friday night in Brewerton sickened about 35 people, nine of whom were taken by ambulance to hospital emergency rooms.

The private party was at Arrowhead Lodge, an Onondaga County-owned facility at Oneida Shores Park. People can rent the lodge from the county and bring in their own food vendor.

The county and state health departments are investigating and have not yet confirmed if food poisoning caused the outbreak, said.

Ann Rooney, Onondaga County’s deputy county executive “Because this was a private party, there was never any threat to the public.”

Unless it’s Norovirus or Salmonella or E. coli or any other bug that can be spread person-to-person.

15 sickened: UK restaurant manager fined £20K after Salmonella outbreak

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Douglas Powell

The manager of a Stratford restaurant has been made to pay more than £20,000 after a serious outbreak of Salmonella saw six people hospitalised and one suffer kidney failure.

Henry Cheung, who manages the Laughing Buddha on Greenhill Street, was also banned from being involved in the running of any food outlet after pleading guilty to eight food hygiene offences at Leamington Magistrates’ Court on Friday (July 31).

The prosecution against Mr Cheung was brought by Stratford District Council’s Environmental Health department, who told the court how 15 people were known to have contracted food poisoning after eating at the Chinese restaurant between July and August last year.

It is understood eggs from a supplier in Germany, which were not Red Lion branded and had previously caused a salmonella outbreak, were used at the restaurant.

Two of the most severe cases saw one man hospitalised with kidney failure while another – the partner of a pregnant woman – suffered an extreme bout of food poisoning although both went on to make a full recovery.

Despite undergoing a period of voluntary closure last year, it is understood eggs from the same supplier were used again at a later date.

$19,000 fine: Is this Australia’s filthiest restaurant?

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A popular dumpling restaurant in Melbourne’s east has been exposed as a filthy cesspit, and its owner fined $19,000 after live and dead cockroaches, drain flies, rodent feces and filthy buildups of food waste, grease, oil and grime were found in the kitchen.

A Monash Council inspector made the discovery at the Raramen eatery in Glen Waverley, along with used drink bottles used to store sauces, meat sitting on a bench “for a couple of hours” and rice stored on the floor, plus wires and boxes that had been nibbled by rodents.

Astonishingly, the restaurant — which is still open for business — continued to be riddled with to insects and rodent poo on up to eight further council visits between March and July this year.

On July 10, Dumpling Hut Pty Ltd, the company which owns Raramen, and company director Siu Hin Yip pleaded guilty to 17 charges under the Food Act 1984 and the Food Standards Code. The charges related to inadequate pest control, unsuitable food handling, poor food storage and inadequate skills, among other issues.

QR codes for restaurant inspection disclosure in Sudbury

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Douglas Powell

My sister, who lives in Sudbury (that’s in Canada), may be pleased to know the Sudbury and District Health Unit has asked restaurants to put new decals in their window. The decals include a code people can scan with their cell phone to access health inspection results.

The Food Safety manager with the health unit said making restaurant cleanliness information easily accessible is important.

“[It gives] the consumer the information at hand to make the best decision possible [about] whether they choose to eat at that place or not,” Cynthia Peacock-Rocca said.

The decal program is voluntary for restaurants. She noted creating a mandatory program would have required legislative changes in all the municipalities the health unit serves.

The results of inspection reports have been available on the health unit website since 2009.

Make disclosure mandatory: Brisbane issues 445 infringements to businesses for breaching food safety standards and collects more than 500K in fines

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Toronto, Los Angeles and New York have all figured out how to make restaurant inspection disclosure mandatory.

It’s voluntary in Australia.

The council has revealed its worst offenders are among Brisbane’s most popular eateries including Fortitude Valley’s Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant, Subway in Chermside Westfield and Ahmet’s Turkish Restaurant in South Bank.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the council had raked in more than $500,000 in fines from businesses breaching standards and had successfully prosecuted 27 cases.

Cr Quirk said in the past financial year it had cancelled food licences on 18 occasions and issued 48 immediate suspensions to businesses in breach of food safety standards as well as 620 improvement notices.

“Council also issued 445 fines to businesses during the year and finalised prosecution of 27 successful cases of Food Act 2006 breaches with fines totalling $579,700, for incidents,” he said.

Cr Quirk said its Eat Safe program, which was implemented in 2010, aimed to boost health and safety standards in licensed food businesses including both mobile food vendors to restaurants.

Popular Florida pizza chain temporarily shut down for live roaches crawling in the kitchen

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Douglas Powell

I have nostalgic memories of Clearwater, because my grand parents owned a place there, but after being in Australia for four years, the other beaches seem sorta small.

And last time I was in Clearwater, Florida, it seemed sorta dumpy.

Hungry Howies at 1884 Drew St. in Clearwater had to temporarily close up shop and stop serving food for several hours after what the state found behind the kitchen doors.

On July 23 inspectors saw over 35 live roaches crawling all around the kitchen.

The state observed roaches crawling between the wall and grease trap located beneath the three-compartment sink, near the reach-in cooler and hand wash sink.

Other violations documented include build-up of food debris, dust or dirt on the floor fan, ceiling tiles and vents, a hole in the back door and another hole in the wall behind the mixer, pizza to-go boxes stored on the floor and food not properly marked with dates.

In addition, there was no proof employees had the required state approved food safety training.

Indian restaurant in Wales ‘disgusting’

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Douglas Powell

The owner of the Royal Massala restaurant has been ordered to do unpaid work after admitting offences.

A rodent infestation, mouldy food and a dirty kitchen that put customers at risk have landed one Indian restaurant owner in court.

Inspectors uncovered a catalogue of health hazards at the Royal Massala in Pencoed, near Bridgend, and slapped it with a zero rating.

But owner Sheik Mohammed Anwar failed to clean up his act – receiving a rating of one in a follow-up inspection – and he has now been sentenced in court, according to a statement from Bridgend County Borough Council.

The council has also threatened to ban Anwar from managing any food business in the future.

4,000 UAE firms fined for food safety violations

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Over 4,000 food outlets in Sharjah were fined for violating health and hygiene regulations since the beginning of the year.

Inspectors from the Sharjah Municipality visited 29,499 establishments including food outlets, food manufacturing companies, cafeterias and restaurants, and found that 4,213 eateries were violating health and hygiene regulations.

Some of the errant outlets were slapped with hefty fines of up to Dh10,000, while some others were shut down temporarily until they rectified the violation, said Shaikha Rasha Al Qasimi, Head of the health department and food control laboratory at the Sharjah Municipality. Some eateries were let off after being warned.

barfblog

safe food from farm to fork

Category Archives: Restaurant Inspection