Old Meat; Bare Hands Touching Food; Peas Too Cold: Health Violations

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services officials responded to complaints about two Silver Spring restaurants recently. One complaint was about old meat being sold and the other concerned an employee serving ready-to-eat food with their bare hands. Inspectors also found a third Silver Spring restaurant keeping potentially hazardous food at the incorrect temperature.

All Montgomery County licensed retail food establishments are inspected by the Licensure & Regulatory Services Program. Regular comprehensive inspections include evaluating an establishment's sanitation, maintenance and food service operations. These inspections include monitoring critical temperatures and food handling procedures.

From Sept. 4 to Sept. 10, inspectors identified three Silver Spring businesses with critical violations of food safety requirements.

"A Critical Violation means a food safety requirement that requires immediate correction," according to the health and human services website. "Failure for immediate correction results in cessation of some or all food operations or closure of the facility until violation is able to be corrected."

Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins

On Sept. 6, a health and human services inspector visited the Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins at 115 University Blvd. W. in response to a complaint that an employee was not wearing food grade gloves. The complainant observed the employee serving ready-to-eat with their bare hands.

"The operator on duty is not aware of the complaint," the report said.

The inspector did see an employee using a cup to scoop up ice,and touching the ice with their bare hands, which was a critical violation that needed to be immediately addressed.

The inspector told the operator on duty that an ice scoop should be used to dispense ice to preventing cross-contamination by people, equipment, and non-ready-to-eat foods.

Although the inspector found no other critical violations at the Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins, the restaurant needed to address the following issues:

• Walk-in freezer's thermometer is not operational
• Currently the facility is not under direct supervision of a Montgomery County Certified food service manager.
• Currently the facility is not under direct supervision of a manager with allergen awareness certification.

California Tortilla

A health and human services inspector responded on Sept. 7 to a complaint about the California Tortilla located at 10721A Columbia Pike. A customer complained that the meat they purchased there was old and stale.

“The manager said that he is aware of the complaint since a customer complained to him that the meat (chicken) is old and doesn’t taste good,” the inspector wrote in their report. “Per manager, the customer had concern over price and also complained about the food. The manager said that any food items that are put in hot holding unit would not be served next day. All meat in the hot holding are observed within the required hot holding temperature.”

The inspector noted one critical violation that needed to be immediately addressed. Chopped tomatoes, corn, and cheese were being held at a temperature of 48 degrees F. in a prep cooler. The FDA requires that those items be held at 41 degrees F or lower to avoid contamination. The manager had two days to repair the prep cooler so that it could maintain food items at the proper temperature.

Although no other critical violations were noted, the restaurant needed to resolve the following issues, according to the report:

• Montgomery County certified food service manager is not presented. Provide within two weeks.
• Food allergen awareness trained person is not presented. Provide within two weeks.

Port-Au-Prince Authentic Haitian Cuisine

During a Sept. 7 inspection, a heath and human services inspector found a critical violation at the Port-Au-Prince Authentic Haitian Cuisine restaurant at 7912 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring.

Rice and peas, which are potentially hazardous food, were being kept in a hot holding unit at 76 degrees F., rather than the required 135 degrees F. or above. To rectify the situation, the restaurant discarded the food.

Though no other critical violations, the inspector brought the following issues to the restaurant’s attention:

• No Certified Food Service Manager is observed on duty during this inspection. Provide a Certified Food Service Manager on every shift of operation.
• No Hazard Analysis Critical control Point Plan is observed in this facility. Provide a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Plan for all potentially hazardous food which requires time or temperature control for safety.
• No thermometer is observed in the bar prep. table refrigerator. Provide thermometers in all refrigerators and freezers.
• No soap is observed at the hand washing station in the kitchen. Provide soap and paper towels at all hand washing stations.
• No test strip is observed at the three part sink. Provide test strip to determine the concentration of sanitizing solution.
• Food is observed stored on the floor in the basement. Store food on a shelf space 6 inches or more off the floor.
• The basement floor is observed with accumulated traffic residue. Clean the basement floor.
• The backdoor is observed not self closing. Provide a self closing mechanism on the back door.

The reason the back door needed to be repaired was that all of the restaurant's openings must served as effective barriers to the entrance of insects and rodents.

Previous Reports:

• Complaint About Mice Prompts Inspection Of Silver Spring Restaurant
• Roaches, Mouse Droppings: Silver Spring Eatery Cited For Violations