Two Merced-area businesses earn low grades in inspections. ‘Filthy’ sink and uncovered food
Multiple food-safety violations discovered during health inspections in late June landed two food establishments – one in Merced, another in Livingston – “unsatisfactory” grades from the Merced County Department of Public Health and its Environmental Health Division.
The Champion Grill Buffet at 475 W. Olive Ave. was found to have 11 violations during an inspector’s June 20 visit, including a closed hot-water valve to the hand sink in the restaurant’s kitchen, damaged plastic cutting boards in need of replacement, food ingredients uncovered and stored incorrectly, broken or missing grates on floor drains in the kitchen, using paper towels to seal sink drains instead of a proper stopper, insufficient sanitizer levels in the sinks, and a gap under the rear kitchen door large enough to allow rodents and vermin to enter.
The violations added up to a total of 21 violation points – well over the threshold of 14 points for an “unsatisfactory” rating, according to the county’s inspection summary for the restaurant.
The restaurant’s manager was able to immediately correct some of the violations, but the overall rating will require a re-inspection to ensure that all of the problems are fixed, including new cutting boards, installation of grates on the floor drains, proper stoppers for the sinks, and repairing the threshold under the rear door to keep rodents and bugs out of the kitchen.
The other unsatisfactory rating was issued a day later, on June 21, as a result of an inspection at the Sinclair / Royal Gas & Food Market at 1419 Crowell St. in Livingston. There, the most serious violation prompted an inspector to order an immediate stop to all beverage sales from the beverage machine until sanitizer and test strips could be obtained to maintain the cleanliness of the equipment.
Other violations included dishes stacked up in a “filthy three-compartment sink,” no hand washing signs at the kitchen hand-wash sink or in the employee restroom, a lack of knowledge by the staff about where the most recent health inspection report was, no evidence that any current employee has a food safety manager class certificate, an empty toilet paper dispenser in the customer restroom, no paper towels in the dispenser at the kitchen hand wash sink, and no test strips to assure proper sanitizer concentration for dish washing.
The results amounted to 16 violation points, requiring a re-inspection to ensure that the problems are corrected.
The27 inspections conducted in late June at restaurants, cafeteria kitchens, snack bars, markets and commissaries served up “good” ratings for 23 businesses with six or fewer violation points, while two others scored “satisfactory” ratings for between seven and 13 violation points.
