Where did the hog come from?

Who knows….. I have run in to similar problems when I was in the field and it is incredible the stories people make up when you ask for the origin of products. If it is not from an approved source, just say it and get it out of your restaurant.

Zack McDonald of News Herald writes:

A whole hog of questionable origins and more than 100 live roaches led inspectors in December to temporarily halt operations for the second time at a Panama City Beach restaurant, according to health inspection reports.
It was the only restaurant reported to have been issued an emergency closure in the past month.
In December, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR) issued an emergency closure for Cool Runnings Caribbean Cuisine, 13312 Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach. Sanitation and safety specialists reported finding conditions that could contribute directly to a food-borne illness or injury at the time of their inspection. Cool Runnings, however, corrected the issues that led to the closure and was allowed to reopen within a day, state inspectors reported.
DBPR specifies the inspections are snapshots of a business at that time only. Cool Runnings has an active state licenses and is currently open. It is, however, the second time within the past few months the business has been temporarily shuttered for health violations, according to DBPR reports.
On Dec. 5, inspectors reported arriving at Cool Runnings about 2 p.m. to find a whole hog being stored in a reach-in freezer. After the restaurant was unable to provide an invoice or receipt to show the hog’s origins, inspectors issued a “stop sale” order on the food item, DBPR reported.
Inspectors also reported finding more than 100 live roaches in various areas of the kitchen.
“Observed 75 live roaches on the shelf next to root beer reach in cooler, in the back prep area,” inspectors wrote. “Observed 16 live roaches on the wall by root beer reach-in cooler. Upon eight live roaches underneath the prep table in back prep area. Observed five live roaches behind two-door reach in cooler in back prep area. Observed four live roaches underneath the three compartment sink in back prep area.”
Management of Cool Runnings did not return a request for comment on the closure. DBPR reported the business corrected the issue and was allowed to reopen the following morning about 10:30 a.m.
In August, inspectors reported finding flying insects in the restaurant’s kitchen, food preparation area and food storage area. In addition to the business operating with an expired DBPR license, officials also reported finding about 75 live roaches in areas near the restaurant’s hot water heater, underneath a reach-in cooler and around an umbrella during that visit.
That was the first emergency closure issued to the business since it opened in February, DBPR records indicated.
The closure brings the total to 21 for 2017 in the central Panhandle. The bulk of the closures occurred since the end of June after a two-month stint during which DBPR went without a closure.

Michelin star chef perturbed at health inspectors

The autumn season in Manitoba (Canada) can be tricky, some days are sunny and warm and others bitter cold. Today is one of those rare warm days so my family and I are planning to cook some chicken on the BBQ. I use a probe thermometer to ensure the poultry is cooked to 74C (165F) so I’m not concerned with microbial safety, it’s the heterocyclic amines that bug me.

A Michelin star chef in the UK is upset that health inspectors questioned his cooking of chicken livers for pate resulting in a poor restaurant health rating.

Jane de Graaff reports

Earlier this week we clocked a story at 9Honey Kitchen that involved internationally acclaimed restaurant Rocksalt in the UK’s Folkestone losing its 5-star health rating over its treatment of chicken. The story goes that the time and temperatures for cooking the chicken livers used in a pâté dish allowed them to retain a blushing pink colour along with a silky texture. When questioned by health and safety inspectors, some of the technique specified was a little confused, and despite the restaurants stellar reputation, resulted in their 5-star health rating being dropped down to 2-star. The restaurant was—not unexpectedly—a little perturbed as the misunderstanding could have been cleared up and the restaurant’s health practices have otherwise been exemplary.
Chef Mark Sargeant—who trained under Gordon Ramsay, has a Michelin star and runs several restaurants—knows full well the implications of dishes being served in a less that regulatory way. Sargent was clearly unimpressed and requested a reassessment of the restaurant’s standards sooner than the usual 3-month period, as the chef feels it’s a misrepresentation of what his team delivers.
“[It’s] the skill of a very good kitchen, you get a beautiful set chicken liver pâté with a beautiful flush going through it which obviously comes about from cooking it at a certain temperature. But it’s cooked, it’s completely safe,” the Telegraph UK reports Sargeant commenting.
He went on to note that it was such overly strict guidelines in the UK that lead to medium-rare burgers being off the menu, as well as the classic dish of steak tartare (raw beef) required to be seared on the outside before scraping out the centre to use in the dish.
As that debate rages on, we thought it might be time to check in with our friends at the CSIRO to find out what the recommendations on chicken actually are. Having seen recent (and reoccurring) stories about chicken sashimi, we wanted to set the record straight, because there seems to be some confusing trends on the rise.

So, can you ever eat chicken raw? Cathy Moir, Senior Food Microbiologist at the CSIRO, say unequivocally no.
“Chicken should not be eaten raw because it may carry harmful bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter that can result in foodborne infection and gastroenteritis,” she says, adding that chicken livers are no different.
“There have been outbreaks of Campylobacter food poisoning linked to dishes such as pâté, where poultry liver has been undercooked. Like other poultry meat, livers need to be cooked all the way through to kill bacteria that may be present. Lightly frying the surface is not enough. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recommends that cooked whole livers may still be slightly pink in the centre, but they should never be bloody or look raw.”
Why Moir advises that long, slow, low temperature cooking can be used to cook chicken and still retain a nice blush, but it’s a method best left to professionals of have the training and means to know when they are getting this just right. For Moir the best way to know with certainty that a food like chicken is cooked through is to use an internal thermometer and make sure that the interior temperature is 75°C for chicken.
“Different meats require different cooking temperatures to destroy harmful bacteria. Not only should we cook chicken right through until it reaches an internal temperature of 75°C, the same goes for minced or boned meats, hamburger, stuffed meats, mechanically tenderised meat and sausages. This is because food poisoning bacteria can be present all the way through these types of meat products as well as on the surface and only thorough cooking will kill them. Use a meat thermometer to check temperatures in the thickest part of the meat and always follow cooking instructions on packaged foods.”
Simply put, there is no such thing as chicken sashimi, rare chicken or translucent chicken. These should be avoided at all costs.
So perhaps the health and safety officers in the UK were right to judge harshly on the pink pâté issue after all.

 

Health inspectors get own Food Network series; when will they have Rob Mancini on?

The Braiser is reporting that the Food Network’s newest series, Health Inspectors,  got enough pilot ratings to be an actual television series, especially given how this is probably the restaurant industry’s version of Hoarders or Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

In each episode, all titled unpleasant names (for example, “Rats in the Cellar” or “Slugs in the Walk-In”), former chef Ben Vaughan will attempt to save each restaurant from being shut down by health inspectors. If there’s one thing that probable inspiration Gordon Ramsay can tell you, it’s pretty hard: for example, there are rats in the cellar and slugs in the walk-in. (Thank you for being so blatant, episode titles. At the same time, we really don’t want to know what “A Game Of Chicken” entails.)

Health Inspectors premieres at Friday, October 26that 10:30pm ET/PT, which will give you plenty of time to either get your vomit bags prepared, sue the Food Network for putting graphic images on the television, or complain to Michael Bloomberg about the health grading system.

And the oscar goes to…….

Well done Kansas City. The Kansas City Health Department has recognized those food service establishments, 55 in total, who have gone above and beyond in terms of sanitation and food safety. Recipients of this award will definitely benefit by getting more business simply because people enjoy clean and sanitary restaurants. Do you blame them? The Kansas City Star writes:

The recipients of the department’s Fifth Annual “Grade A Food Excellence Award” for 2008 winners include full-scale restaurants, fast-food establishments, school cafeterias, convenience stores and grocery stores, among others.

The award is valid for one year.

The winners include Arby’s on Oxford Avenue in the Northland, Bluestem in Westport, Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers on State Line Road, Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza’s Café Express and Kansas City Marriott Downtown’s Lilly’s, Paul’s Drive-in on Blue Ridge Boulevard, Popeyes Famous Chicken and Biscuits on State Line Road, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at Union Station, Russell Stover Candies on 51st Street, and Sylvia’s Deli on Washington Street.

“When you go in a restaurant you look for good quality in the food, good service, but most of all cleanliness and my deli is clean,” said Sylvia Raya, owner of Sylvia’s Deli at 1746 Washington St., which will celebrate its fifth anniversary in June. “From day one I was determined to get this award and my employees worked very hard for it as well.”

All food establishments in Kansas City are inspected regularly by the Health Department, and if they are open it means that they have passed their inspections.

But the establishments recognized with this award have substantially exceeded the standards set in the Food Code, fully endorsing employee education and training.

Criteria include:

At least one person in the facility must have successfully completed the department’s food manager course or be ServSafe certified.

High risk facilities (those with large and complicated menus) cannot have more than three critical violations, medium risk facilities (fast food operations and bistros) cannot have more than two critical violations, and low risk facilities (like street vendors or convenience stores with one or two fresh prepared products) cannot have any critical violations in the calendar year for the award.

No violations may be repeat violations from the calendar year.