Pink slime and food grime: See latest Sacramento County restaurant inspection results
Sacramento County health inspectors recently found pink slime in ice machines at two local restaurants, as well as onions resting on top of raw meat and sugar sitting on the floor of a storage unit.
A total of four Sacramento area restaurants received yellow placards this week, while no local eateries were closed due to health code violations.
A yellow placard signals two or more major violations, according to the Sacramento County Food Inspection Guide. These are typically corrected or mitigated during the inspection.
A red placard signals “imminent danger to public health and safety” and suspends the health permit until violations are corrected. This could include, but is not limited to, major vermin contamination.
Green means a restaurant passed the inspection.
The county conducts roughly 14,000 inspections a year, and 97% of all restaurants pass their inspections, Ken Casparis, a spokesman, previously told The Bee. About 1% of inspections result in a closure.
Health inspectors shut down Sacramento cocktail bar Ten Ten Room was shut down Dec. 6. but it reopened on Dec. 8.
Here are the food facility inspections for Dec. 7 through Wednesday, as of noon Thursday:
If an inspection listed below needs clarification, business owners can email Jacqueline Pinedo at jpinedo@sacbee.com. The Bee will publish weekly updates on health inspections across Sacramento County.
Sacramento County restaurants get yellow placard violations
The following Sacramento County restaurants had violations the week of Dec. 7 through Dec. 13, resulting in a conditional pass.
Only the dates of violations are listed. Most restaurants fully pass reinspection within 72 hours. The reports are linked. For updates on individual restaurants, you can search the EMD website here.
Morales Carniceria & Market, 6830 Stockton Blvd in Sacramento, had 19 violations on Monday. A hand-washing sink was blocked off with a pot of water, according to the report. Additionally, 16 egg tarts seen in a pastry display case were not stored in the appropriate temperature. An employee was observed skipping the sanitizing step when washing knives at a three-compartment sink. “Old food accumulation” was also found on slide door tracks for the deli meat and meat display cases.
Pho Anh, 6830 Stockton Blvd. in Sacramento, had 16 violations on Monday. Inspectors saw an employee grab raw onions that were sitting on top of raw meat and place them in a container in the fridge, according to the inspection report. Beef tripe and raw chicken were both being stored in incorrect holding temperatures. Additionally, pink and black slime was observed in the ice machine, according to the report. A box of onions was found on the floor next to a meat slicer during the inspection.
Cafeteria 15L/ The Park, 1116 15th St. in Sacramento, had 13 violations on Monday. Cooked squash, tomato bisque, sliced cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, whipped butter and cooked vegetables were all being stored in improper holding temperatures during Monday’s inspection. Pink slime was observed on the roofs and ceilings and and behind the deflector plates of both ice machines at the restaurant, according to the inspection. Three bags of sugar were found “directly on the floor” in an upstairs storage unit during the inspection.
California Burrito, 5649 Watt Ave in North Highlands, had 10 violations on Wednesday. A chocolate-covered banana on a stick was found inside a walk-in freezer, and two buckets of seasoning stored below a food preparation counter were uncovered during the inspection. There was no hot water “by the kitchen hand sink and front hand sink,” according to the report. Inspectors noticed the “cold top refrigerator bottom doors not closing properly,” according to the report.
Pho Anh, 6830 Stockton Blvd in Sacramento, had one violation on Wednesday. Time as a public health control, also referred to as TPHC, was not logged for foods since Dec. 12. The owner stated that “she will train the employee again with writing ‘start time’ and ‘discard time’ on the colored stickers,” the Wednesday report said.
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