Restaurants & Bars

Food Safety Violation Reported At Fredericksburg School Kitchen: Health Inspection

An inspector from the Rappahannock Area Health District recently reported a violation in the kitchen of a Fredericksburg elementary school.

Michael O'Connell, Patch Staff

Posted Wed, Jun 11, 2025 at 3:55 pm ET|Updated Thu, Jun 12, 2025 at 12:30 pm ET

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — Rappahannock Area Health District inspectors reported finding health code violations at eight of the 28 Fredericksburg food establishments they visited May 19-23.

On May 19, an inspector visited Rockhill Elementary School and reported finding cooked sweet potatoes a cooling on a speed rack in the kitchen next to the cooking equipment at 8:15 p.m.

"The person in charge reported the sweet potatoes completed cooking between 6:00-6:20 a.m," the inspector said in their report. "The sweet potatoes were relocated to the walk-in freezer to help facilitate rapid cooling. Internal temperatures were observed at 98-100 degrees F at 8:31 a.m. The person in charge reported monitoring of cooling were not conducted and voluntarily discarded the sweet potatoes."

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In order to ensure food safety, cooked items like sweet potatoes need need to be cooled within two hours, from 135°F (57°C) to 70°F (21°C), according to the inspection report.

Violations at food establishments typically focus on factors that can contribute to food contamination. The local health department can also perform a re-inspection to ensure that possible violations have been corrected.

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Sometimes, the follow-up inspection only considers the most important "priority" violations.For every observed violation, the inspector provides a specific corrective action that can be completed to rectify the violation. Sometimes these are simple, and violations can be corrected during the course of the inspection.

The Virginia Department of Health only recommends restaurants have their permits suspended when "the continued operation of the foodservice presents a substantial and imminent threat to the public health."