Johnson County Public Health completed its routine inspection of local restaurants and other food establishments, compiling 74 violations in 14 locations in January.
Carlos O’Kelly’s of Iowa City, Inc. on 1406 S. Gilbert St. had six violations on Jan. 3. Three of these inspection issues were corrected while an inspector was onsite.
The first violation was open containers of sauces and ingredients not being marked with the day it was open, the second being multiple chemical spray bottles on the same shelves as the ready-to-eat food and supplies.
The third violation was the server station sink not having hand washing soap. The second and third issues were corrected by placing the spray bottles in the proper area and supplying hand-washing soap at the sink.
The fourth violation was the items served to order and the undercooked items not being disclosed on the menu. The fifth violation was hand drying not being available in the men’s restroom and server station area hand sinks. This was corrected by supplying hand-drying provisions.
The sixth violation was the menu lacking a reminder and warning statement for the made-to-order menu items.
Thai Spice on 1210 S. Gilbert St. had 10 violations on Jan. 11. Six of the inspection issues were corrected by staff and by the intervention of the inspector.
The first violation was the person in charge washing their hands on the three-bay sink. The inspector intervened by directing the person in charge to use the hand-washing sink instead.
The second violation was staff food stored uncovered on the prep table, corrected by covering the staff food. The third violation was a case of raw eggshells stored at room temperature, corrected by discarding the eggs.
The fourth violation was the person in charge failing to answer questions about cooking and holding temperatures. The fifth violation was no site-specific written procedures for cleaning bodily fluids.
The sixth violation was several containers of prepared food and sauces lacking labels for the dates they were prepared.
The seventh violation was an open container of minced crab and an open container of mayo requiring refrigeration stored at room temperature. This was corrected by the person in charge discarding the minced crab and container of mayo.
The eighth violation involved an employee handling raw chicken, rinsing their gloves underwater at the dish pit, and beginning a new task with those gloves. The inspector intervened by discussing single-use gloves with the employee.
The ninth violation was a food container being stored on the rim of a hand-washing sink. The person in charge corrected this by removing the container.
El Señor Cactus on 1534 S. Gilbert St. Suite 100 had 11 violations on Jan. 22. Four of these 11 inspection issues were corrected while the inspector was onsite.
The first violation was the Certified Food Protection Manager on file being expired.
The second violation was the person in charge failing to ensure that employees were washing hands and putting on gloves to avoid bare-hand contact. Additionally, the person in charge failed to ensure that employees were using appropriate temperature-measuring devices when cooking.
The third violation was there being no verifiable health reporting agreements available for audit at the time of inspection. The fourth violation was no site-specific procedures for cleaning up bodily fluids.
The fifth violation was raw sausage and raw eggs being stored above the ready-to-eat food in the walk-in cooler. The sixth violation was raw beef sticks being stored in the same container as the raw ground beef in the walk-in cooler.
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The seventh violation was a food employee handling raw eggs and began a new task without changing their single-use gloves. This employee washed their hands and put on the same gloves before returning to handle food.
The eighth violation was two rice bags being stored at improper temperatures. This was corrected by voluntarily discarding the rice bags. The ninth violation was a sauce not being heated at minimum temperatures, corrected by reheating the sauce.
The tenth violation was the cheese not being cooled at or below the maximum cooling temperature, corrected by re-cooling the cheese.
Additionally, a pico dish wasn’t held at the proper temperature at the to-go station. The person in charge corrected this by returning it to the main refrigeration unit for cooling.
The eleventh violation was multiple house-made sauces and other ingredients held beyond the seven-day limit for house-made foods. The person in charge corrected this by discarding these items.
