Fruit flies in ice cream toppings + other notes from Beaufort County December inspections

Lisa Wilson
·5 min read

Six Beaufort County food businesses were cited with “B” grades in December health inspections by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control:

Jah’nya’s, 102F Sea Island Parkway in Beaufort, scored an 94% (B) on Dec. 12 in a followup inspection. This percentage normally would merit an A grade, but inspectors downgraded it because of the failure to correct issues cited in a previous report. Here are the issues listed: Person in charge does not possess a food protection manager certificate; the three-compartment sink is not properly sealed to the wall; and the back of toilet is cracked, and the tank will not hold water. An employee has to manually add water.

Jasper’s Frosty Dog Cafe, 8 North Forest Beach Drive on Hilton Head, scored an 81% (B) on Dec. 7 in a routine inspection. Issues noted by inspectors included: The hand-washing sink basin blocked by standing water, without paper towels and without hand soap; fruit for ice cream in the front lowboy cooler, bread items in the lowboy under the griddle, and bagged hot dogs in the two-door reach-in cooler in the back of house are covered with green, white and black organic growth; fryer baskets have build up of grease and caked food debris, leaving baskets not clean to sight or touch; a pizza pan left with food debris present in the pizza oven; a dead rat in a trap in the back of house near the yogurt machines; a mouse trap installed on same shelf as food items; a swarm of fruit flies throughout the facility, mainly inside the front lowboy for ice cream toppings, the unplugged Dippin’ Dot freezer, the back of house in dry storage, and under the cook line in a container holding onion peels; standing water at the bottom of the two-door reach-in cooler in the back of the house; the tops of the ice cream freezers have dried ice cream debris present, and the bottom of the freezer has food debris present; a leak in the faucet junction at the hand-washing station and three-compartment sink; and floors under equipment throughout kitchen area with dark organic build up.

La Poblanita Restaurant, 4490 Bluffton Parkway in Bluffton, scored a 79% (B) on Dec. 12 in a routine inspection. Issues noted by inspectors included: Raw pork sausage stored in direct contact with raw beef; ice machine has heavy accumulation of organic buildup on the deflector plate; soda gun nozzle has accumulation of black organic matter; a food handler rinsed a soiled immersion blender with water and wiped with a towel before storing as clean without a sanitizing step as required; prepared food held longer than 24 hours without date marks; a whole octopus thawing at room temperature; an active rodent bait station on top of the mechanical dish machine; rodent feces on floors throughout dry storage and around ice machine; swarming drain flies near keg cooler; ice scoop buried in ice machine; walk-in cooler shelving is rusted; the lack of testing devices to measure sanitizing solutions; and trash, unused equipment and food debris outside back door.

Starbucks Coffee #8409, 1060-A Fording Island Road in Bluffton, scored a 98% (B) on Dec. 15 in a followup inspection. This percentage normally would merit an A grade, but inspectors downgraded it because of the failure to correct an issue cited in a previous report. Here is the issue listed: The hand-washing sink is blocked by other equipment and is inaccessible by staff.

The Fillin’ Station, 57 Sea Island Parkway in Beaufort, scored an 84% (B) on Dec. 21 in a routine inspection. Issues noted by inspectors included: Facility does not have a certified food protection manager; food handler washed hands by dipping hands into the third bay of the three-compartment sink and then wiping dry with a wiping cloth; food handler touched ready to eat food with bare hands; kitchen hand sink and bar hand sink both blocked with miscellaneous items and not easily accessible, with no soap or drying provision; red potatoes and canned goods stored on the floor; single service items stored on the floor; no strips to test sanitizer concentration; and a water leak under the three-compartment sink.

The French Bakery, 28 Shelter Cove Lane, Suite 120, on Hilton Head, scored an 85% (B) on Dec. 29 in a routine inspection. Issues noted by inspectors included: The rear hand-wash sink with items and dirty towels stored in the basin; no drying provision at hand-wash sinks in kitchen and bar; lack of chlorine sanitizer in the mechanical dish machine; several working containers of chemicals without labeling for identification as required; personal items stored with clean dishes and on prep surfaces; back door propped open; food stored under a leak in the walk-in freezer; wet and soiled wiping cloths on cutting boards; ice scoop and soda gun with handles turned down resulting in contact with the ice; and the cutting board at the cold station deeply scored and no longer easily cleanable.

What the grades mean

Inspectors hand out a grade of A, B or C, depending on the conditions found at the time. Points are docked for a variety of infractions, and restaurants have a chance to correct the problems and improve their score.

  • A: 88% to 100%

  • B: 78% to 87%

  • C: 77% or less

During December, DHEC recorded 90 inspections of restaurants, schools, stores and other food establishments in Beaufort County. The agency publishes the results of these health inspections on its website.

Newer food grade decals include a QR code that customers can scan with their phones to see a food establishment’s latest report.

Below are the SC DHEC restaurant grades in Beaufort County from Dec. 1-31, 2023.

At the top left of the chart, there is a space to search for the name of a restaurant. Please note that this month’s inspections take up two pages. Switch to page 2 at the top right.