Ingham County restaurant inspections: Dirty hands and gloves, vegetables stored improperly

LANSING — When county health inspectors visit local restaurants, they document problems that need addressing to meet standards set by Michigan food codes and law.

The most serious problems are considered priority violations, which present potential health hazards and should be corrected immediately. Priority foundation violations do not present immediate health hazards but should be corrected in a timely manner. Follow-up inspections and reports may consequently happen.

In most cases, the violations are corrected, and this information isn't an indication that violations at any establishment are still an ongoing issue.

Here are the most serious violations for restaurants in Ingham County during the first two weeks of June.

Four priority violations were found at:

Blondie's Barn, 5640 Marsh Road, Haslett

An employee was observed not washing hands after cracking a raw shell egg. The employee then used a gloved hand to hold a spatula to flip an omelet and then returned to preparing food without washing hands or changing the glove. "Correction: After touching foods that are raw/undercooked, removal of gloves and hand washing is required before donning new gloves and working with food that requires little or no additional cooking." An employee handled toast with bare hands, which was corrected. Cut tomatoes and leafy greens registered 45-plus degrees Fahrenheit, at least 4 degrees over the 41-degree limit. Food was discarded and the cooler's temperature was adjusted. "No time or date marks were indicated" for certain foods.

Three priority violations and one priority foundation violation was found at:

Fueld, 1500 W. Lake Lansing Road, East Lansing

An inspector observed employees putting gloves on without washing hands first. Washed green beans were returned to the original cardboard container instead of a washable clean food container. Refrigerated shrimp was over the 41 degrees Fahrenheit cold standard by 6 degrees. There was no soap at two hand sinks. All issues were resolved during the inspection.

Two priority violations were found at:

Bobcat Bonnie's, 637 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing

An inspector found a bottle stored in potable ice, which was corrected. A chemical cleanser also was stored with food items at the bar.

Lou & Harry's, 211 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing

"Raw ground beef" was being stored above already-cooked foods. No direct contamination occurred, but an inspector recommended placing raw products in their own area based on their "cook temp." A sanitizer was being stored near food items. Both matters were resolved during the inspection.

One priority violation and one priority foundation violation were found at:

Buddies Pub & Grill, 3048 Lake Lansing Road, East Lansing

Food/sauces in walk-in were beyond the use date. Some food items not marked with name and "made" and "beyond use" dates. "Correction: Adjust method or procedures so that all ready-to-eat potentially hazardous foods are date marked with a date not to exceed 7-days."

One priority violation was found at:

American Legion, 422 Woodworth St., Leslie

An inspector found a chlorine sanitizer that had not been approved for use.

Koi Tea, 2160 W. Grand River Ave., Okemos

The bleach and water sanitizing solution in the three-compartment sink was too strong — 200-plus parts per million instead of 50-100 ppm. Corrected.

Panera Bread, 6310 S. Cedar St., Lansing

The sanitizer concentration for bleach in the dish machine was off, being "less than 25 ppm," or parts per million. An inspector recommended using test strips, and the issue was resolved during the inspection.

Sparty's Coney Island, 300 N. Clippert St., Lansing

Grated cheese on the counter registered 61 degrees Fahrenheit in a plastic container. A cook told the inspector the business goes through a tub of grated cheese in an hour. "Correction: Need to use Time as Public health for the grated cheese. The cheese has (to) be 41 degrees F when placed on the counter and time marked when placed on counter. Have up (to) 4 hours to use it. Every time you put a new tub out time mark it. Must be gone by 4 hours or it has to be discarded." The issue was corrected.

Sunshine Diner, 1040 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Lansing

An inspector saw a cook cracking an egg on the grill and then going to touch toast, which risked cross contamination. "Switch gloves between touch(ing) raw meats or eggs and ready-to-eat foods." Corrected at time of inspection.

Yello Waffle, 5100 Marsh Road, Okemos

Raw shell eggs weren't being stored below and separate from ready-to-eat foods. Corrected.

Two priority foundation violations were found at:

Jet's Pizza, 6445 S. Cedar St., Lansing

A test kit for quat sanitizer and hand sink toweling for hand drying were not available.

One priority foundation violation was found at:

Courtyard East Lansing Okemos, 3545 Meridian Crossing Drive, Okemos

Soap was not available at the food employee hand wash sink in the bar. Corrected at time of inspection.

Dunkin', 110 W. Grand River Ave., East Lansing

Improper date marking in the walk-in cooler for "two containers of cold brew coffee, one container of lemonade, one container of iced coffee, one tray of cooked eggs, two trays of sausage patties, three trays of wraps, two trays of omelets, two containers of bacon, and three containers of cheese." There were May discard dates in the walk-in cooler that were improperly date marked. "PIC reports the TCS food in the walk-in cooler was actually pulled from the freezer/original packaging 6/5/24, but were using the same containers/trays from 5/26/24 and 5/27/24 for new product." The inspector requested new date marking stickers when products are portioned and packaged in the facility and clean containers for pulled products.

Mancino's, 6250 S. Cedar St., Lansing

No details were provided in the June 14 report, but "the FOOD shall be marked or otherwise identified to indicate the time that is 4 hours past the point in time when the FOOD is removed from temperature control."

Contact editor Susan Vela at svela@lsj.com or 248-873-7044. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ingham County restaurant inspections: Dirty hands and gloves, vegetables stored improperly