Food safety: Old meat, dead mouse, blocked sinks & soap dispenser at local businesses
Editor’s note: The Eagle is updating its out-of-compliance inspection database weekly this year. However, because the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed inspections, there may be no related story some weeks. You can search the database at www.kansas.com/databases.
An elementary school, two bars, six restaurants, two gas stations, a grocery store and a smoothie and juice shop are the latest Sedgwick County businesses to fail their Kansas Department of Agriculture food and lodging safety inspections. Violations that led to them falling out of compliance with state expectations include water problems, old meat and evidence of a pest infestation that included a dead mouse and feces, according to a check of inspection reports.
Some of the Wichita-area businesses inspected March 1-6 were surveyed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but many had health inspections onsite. The Eagle has a list of the 13 non-compliant businesses below along with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. You can read specifics about the violations by searching The Eagle’s non-compliant database at www.kansas.com/databases. This list was compiled March 10.
Inspection failures don’t necessarily mean business closures. Most violations are corrected on site as an inspection happens, and follow-up visits usually occur within 10 days to ensure safe food-handling practices are observed. Businesses fall out of compliance when they have a certain number or type of problem that can lead to foodborne illnesses, or problems that can’t be corrected right away, such as plumbing issues and pest infestations.
More than 70 businesses surveyed last week passed their inspections with few or no violations. You can see those at www.foodsafety.kda.ks.gov/FoodSafety/Web/Inspection/PublicInspectionSearch.aspx.
To complain about conditions at a business, email kda.fsl@ks.gov or call 785-564-6767.
Recent out of compliance inspections:
Buckner Elementary School, 3530 E. 27th St. N. in Wichita — One violation for water not getting hot enough at a kitchen sink. The person in charge told the inspector “she is boiling water at this time” to heat it to 110 degrees and had talked to school staff about raising the water temperature but that students were already complaining about the water at their hand-washing sinks being too hot
Emerson Biggins Old Town/Rock Island Live, 808 E. Douglas in Wichita — Nine violations for employee not washing hands before touching clean dishes, old milk, food at unsafe temperatures, milk not labeled with opening date, old roast beef, dirty equipment, no soap at kitchen sink, no paper towels or other hand-drying supplies at bar sinks, unlabeled chemical bottle
Emperor’s Japanese Grill, 320 N. Rock Road in Derby — Six violations for storing raw fish over water bottles and raw beef over garlic sauce, other improper food storage, food at unsafe temperatures including raw chicken and neufchatel cheese, no supplies on site for testing the concentration of sanitizer used for washing dishes, employee washed knives without using sanitizer
Jump Start, 104 W. Chicago Ave. in Colwich — Five violations for selling donuts from a business that does not have a food processing license, old salads for sale, no equipment on site to measure the strength of sanitizer, no hand-washing sink in the kitchen, sink in the employee bathroom was covered with boxes
Krua Thai, 7603 W. 21st St. N. in Wichita — Eight violations for employee touching raw food after raw eggs without washing hands, chicken and soup at unsafe temperatures, curries and sauces at unsafe temperatures, no food thermometer, hand-washing sink had a hose wrapped around it so it couldn’t be used, hand-washing sink “had soap caked on the dispenser” making it unusable
Marta Limon, 3835 S. Seneca St. in Wichita — Six violations for storing raw meat over vegetables, rice and beans at unsafe temperatures, enchilada sauce at unsafe temperatures, containers of shredded beef and beans weren’t labeled with preparation dates, frozen meat stored in plastic T-shirt sacks, unlabeled chemical bottle
NuWay Sandwich Shop, 7301 W. Central in Wichita — Five violations for storing raw beef over cooked chili in their cooler, food at unsafe temperatures, tomatoes weren’t marked with preparation date, no food thermometer, unlabeled chemical bottle
Quick Pick, 3733 N. Arkansas in Wichita — Three violations for not having soap at a bathroom sink, “approximately fifty small rodent droppings in the cabinet below the microwave” and more behind the ice bin, dead mouse, unlabeled chemical bottle
RibCrib BBQ and Grill, 1440 N. Rock Road in Derby — Two violations for dirty containers and water not getting hot enough at sinks
Silvia’s Authentic Mexican Cuisine, 2345 N. Broadway in Wichita — Four violations for selling flan made in an employee’s home, food at unsafe temperatures, container of red salsa wasn’t marked with preparation or opening date
The Store, 3210 E. Osie in Wichita — Two violations for water not getting hot enough at a sink and for not having hand-drying supplies at the sink
Walmart Neighborhood Market, 1106 S. Rock Road in Derby — Five violations for storing raw meat with raw vegetables, other improper food storage, popcorn chicken in deli hot table was too cold to serve safely, bagged salad mix wasn’t cold enough, water didn’t get hot enough at sinks in the produce and bakery areas
Wichita Nutrition, 3300 N. Rock Road in Wichita — One violation for the water not getting hot enough at a bathroom sink
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 12:56 PM.
