Marion County restaurant inspections: critical violations
The following restaurant inspections with critical violations were conducted by Marion Public Health between Jan. 4 and Jan. 9:
● Bucci's Italian Scratch Kitchen, 320 - 322 W. Center St., Marion, Jan. 4. Person in charge (PIC) unable to demonstrate knowledge of temperatures and times for cooling and reheating (critical, corrected during inspection). PIC was retrained and provided with fliers stating the proper cooling and reheating requirements. Employees are not informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report information about their health (critical, corrected). Did not observe a signed employee illness policy. PIC was provided with a copy of the MPH illness policy for employees to review and sign.
Handwashing sink not accessible (critical). Observed a cart with hot warmers partially blocking the kitchen hand sink. Food not properly protected from contamination by separation, packaging and segregation (critical, corrected). Observed pans of raw chicken being stored above packaged bread, packaged fish and packaged bacon. Equipment food-contact surfaces or utensils are unclean (critical). Observed a build-up of debris in the ice maker and on the soda machine ice chute. Improper reheating of food for hot holding (critical, corrected).
Observed refrigerated food items that were placed in the hot holding cabinet and hot well for reheating; after about 2 hours, the food in the hot holding cabinet had temperatures of around 60 degrees and the food in the hot well had temperatures around 120 degrees. PIC discarded the food. Improper cooling of TCS food (critical, corrected). Observed containers of recently prepared foods such as garlic oil and beef juice that were in deep, covered containers that were placed in the walk-in cooler immediately after cooking. The PIC was retrained on the proper methods for cooling. TCS foods not being cold held at the proper temperature (critical, corrected).
Observed small portions of house-made garlic butter that were being kept at room temperature. An application will be completed so that the facility can keep individual servings of butter for 4 hours at room temperature during service and then discard them after the 4 hours (or less) is over. TCS foods not being cold held at the proper temperature (critical, corrected). Observed the salad cooler, dessert cooler and top part of the pizza cooler with TCS foods greater than 41 degrees. PIC discarded the affected foods and was advised not to use the coolers until they have been repaired. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, TCS foods not properly date marked (critical, corrected).
Observed house-made Caesar dressing and scampi sauce that the facility was giving a hold time of 30 days instead of 7 days. PIC discarded the food items. Ready-to-eat, TCS food not properly discarded when required (critical, corrected). Observed some containers of food products such as pizza sauce, garlic oil and boiled eggs in the coolers past their seven-day discard date. PIC discarded the food items. Unapproved chemical sanitizer used on food contact surfaces (critical, corrected). Observed the quat sanitizer dispenser dispensing sanitizer that was below the approved concentration. PIC will use sanitizer tablets to hand mix the sanitizer to the proper concentration until the dispenser has been repaired.
● Van Java Hibachi, 526 W. Center St., Marion, Jan. 8. Food employee(s) did not wash hands when required (critical, corrected during inspection). Observed food employee not wash their hands to prep food after working behind the service counter taking customer payments. Handwashing sink not accessible (critical, corrected). Observed a green bucket in the kitchen hand sink along with buckets on the floor in front of the hand sink restricting access to the hand sink. Food not properly protected from contamination by separation, packaging and segregation (critical, corrected).
Observed a bowl of cut peppers sitting under a pan of raw chicken. Utensils and food-contact surfaces of equipment not sanitized at the required frequency (critical, corrected). PIC stated that the cutting board by the grill used to cut raw meat is washed frequently but sanitizer is not used. Improper cooling of TCS food (critical, corrected). Observed a batch of cooked rice sitting out in a deep plastic container on the kitchen counter 30 minutes after preparation. PIC placed the rice in shallow pans on ice to properly cool.
TCS foods not being cold held at the proper temperature (critical, corrected). Observed the cooler near the stove to have temperatures above 41 degrees. Food employee discarded all food in the cooler and the PIC was advised not to use the cooler until it has been repaired. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, TCS foods not properly date marked (critical repeat, corrected). Observed sauces and crab rangoon filling in the walk-in cooler and sauces in the server cooler without dates.
● Cooper's Bowl, 191 Barks Road W., Marion, Jan. 8. Handwashing sink is being used for purposes other than handwashing (critical, corrected during inspection). Observed a food employee using the handwashing sink as a dump sink. Equipment food-contact surfaces or utensils are unclean (critical, corrected). Observed the lettuce and tomato slicers with a build-up of debris on them. Refrigerated, ready-to-eat, TCS foods not properly date marked (critical, corrected). Observed an opened package of hot dogs, an opened bottle of heavy whipping cream and a container of boiled eggs not dated. PIC discarded the hot dogs and boiled eggs and dated the whipping cream.
● Papa Johns #626, 254 E. Center St., Marion, Jan. 8. Food employee(s) did not wash hands when required (critical, corrected during inspection). Observed PIC not washing hands to prepare food after handling a cell phone. Equipment and utensils contacting TCS food not cleaned every four hours (critical, corrected). PIC verbalized that in-use pizza cutters get washed/changed out once a day; this exceeds 4 hours.
TCS foods not being cold held at the proper temperature (critical, corrected). Observed cheesecake filling sitting out for about 25 minutes after use. PIC placed the cheese cake filling back in the refrigerator and was reminded to place cold held items back in the refrigerator immediately after use. Unapproved chemical sanitizer used on food contact surfaces (critical repeat, corrected). Observed the quat sanitizer dispenser dispensing sanitizer below the approved concentration. PIC will have employees hand-mix the sanitizer until the dispenser has been repaired.
● Carlyle's Restaurant, 1116 Mt. Vernon Ave., Marion, Jan. 9. Unapproved chemical sanitizer used on food contact surfaces (critical, corrected during inspection). Observed some of the sanitizer buckets with quat sanitizer outside the approved concentration. Food contact surfaces not easily cleanable (critical, corrected). Observed damaged/cracked food containers and lids. PIC discarded some of the damaged items and will be purchasing new containers and lids to replace the damaged ones.
● Little Caesars #443, 1275 Mt. Vernon Ave., Marion, Jan. 9. Handwashing sink is being used for purposes other than handwashing (critical, corrected during inspection). Observed a pitcher in the handwashing sink that was being used to get water for dough. Equipment food-contact surfaces or utensils are unclean (critical repeat, corrected). Observed already washed utensils in the utensil storage area with a build-up of debris still on them.
● Wendy's #21, 1165 Mt. Vernon Ave., Marion, Jan. 9. PIC unable to demonstrate knowledge of temperatures and times for cooling of TCS foods (critical, corrected during inspection). Unapproved chemical sanitizer used on food contact surfaces (critical, corrected). Observed the quat sanitizer pans with a sanitizer concentration below the approved level due to the sanitizer dispenser not dispensing enough sanitizer. PIC remade the sanitizer by hand-mixing it with water to the proper concentration and will have food employees continue to do so until the sanitizer dispenser has been repaired.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Food safety inspections with critical violations in Marion County
