Old food. Moldy food. Dead rodent. Two Miami Presidente Supermarkets fail inspection
Mold on equipment and on food and a rodent corpse helped take the flavor out of the pastelito for a couple of Presidente Supermarkets in Miami-Dade.
Unlike inspections of restaurants by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, failed Florida Dept. of Agriculture inspections of supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, retail bakeries, food storage and food distribution facilities don’t result in shutdowns.
The inspector can, however, put Stop Use Orders on equipment or areas of the store or equipment. Sometimes, when several areas of the store are under Stop Use Orders, the business decides opening isn’t worth the time or effort until the Stop Use Orders are lifted.
If you wish to file a complaint about any of the aforementioned kinds of establishments, go to the Department of Agriculture’s website.
What follows are from the inspections, but are just the lowlights.
In chronological order of inspection...
Presidente, 4675 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens
On June 10, Inspector Simeon Carrero found the top manager ignorant in matters that do relate to customer health: “Person in charge does not correctly respond to questions that relate to preventing transmission of foodborne disease by a food employee.”
Deli area employees either were fuzzy on the concept of single-use gloves or just didn’t care as Inspector Carrero saw them “handling various tasks while wearing the same gloves...using a rag with detergent, and continuing to process with the same gloves after they have become contaminated and grabbing a piece of deli ham.”
Protein, stomachaches and vomiting? Bars are recalled after testing finds E. coli
Also in the deli area, cut lettuce and sliced tomatoes weren’t kept safely cooled, even though they were in a walking cooler. The same poor refrigeration problem was shared by bean sprouts and house cut melons in the produce area. Meanwhile, not being kept warm enough in the cafeteria area were white rice, yuca, pork ribs, empanadas (beef, chicken and spinach), croquetas (ham, chicken and cod), stuffed meat yuca and stuffed potatoes.
Out on the retail shelves, the inspector found chicken salad packed at the store that had been in the cold holding unit longer than seven days.
All the above food? Basura.
In the meat department, “old food residue” decorated a meat tenderizer, and an ice machine sported “soil and some kind of mold inside the wall and ice chute.”
The inspector saw “several small flies” in the cafe, meat, deli, seafood and produce departments.
Presidente, 8370 NW 27th Ave., North Miami-Dade
On his Thursday visit, Inspector Jose Pavon found a similar lack of knowledge that Inspector Carrero found in Miami Gardens regarding the top manager and “questions relating to foodborne illness or symptoms associated with diseases transmissible through food.”
Two handwashing sinks were missing paper towels, meaning people either had to use their clothes or flap their arms to try hands. This seems a bit lazy and/or Mr. Krabs cheap — a supermarket presumably has rolls of paper towels and could swallow the cost of a couple of rolls.
Staying on the lazy tip, Pavon saw in the kitchen, “multiple metal trays of in-house baked breads stored uncovered on ready rack next to baking ovens.”
Saran Wrap, people.
In the produce area, “multiple packages of bean sprouts” got tossed for being 57 to 60 degrees when they needed to be cooled to 41 degrees or under. But, that’s probably better than the “multiple green bell peppers with mold-like substance throughout” elsewhere in the produce area.
A package of bulk liver ham had been open in the deli area reach-in display cooler nine days, which is two days too long.
“Multiple band saws” in the meat area were “encrusted with old food particles throughout the blade area” as was the band saw in the seafood section.
Under pallets of paper towels (told you they had some) in the storage area, Pavon spotted “a dead rodent on a glue board.”
