Wichita inspections: Blood stains, bed bugs, swarming insects, cooked spuds on floor
A Mexican supermarket, a big-box retailer, two hotels and three restaurants failed their Kansas Department of Agriculture food safety and lodging inspections last week. Violations that led to them falling out of compliance include bed bug infestations, bloody stains on mattresses, insects swarming over produce and a bowl of cooked potatoes sitting on one restaurant’s kitchen floor, a check of Sedgwick County inspection reports from May 9-15 shows.
Some businesses also were cited for broken containers and utensils; cracks and chips in food preparation equipment can be hard to clean, making them ideal hiding spots for harmful bacteria.
A list of the seven local non-compliant businesses, compiled May 17, appears below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More information, including more-specific violation descriptions and survey dates, is posted in The Eagle’s searchable, non-compliant restaurant and hotel inspection database at www.kansas.com/databases.
At least 50 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.
Failing an inspection doesn’t necessarily mean a business has to close; that’s rare. Most violations are minor and are immediately corrected on site. Businesses fall out of compliance with state food-handling rules when they have too many violations or certain types of problems that may increase the risk of a customer contracting a food-borne illness, or when a problem can’t be fixed right away, like plumbing issues and pest infestations.
When a business fails, it’s usually inspected again within 10 days.
To complain about conditions anywhere that serves or sells food to the public, email kda.fsl@ks.gov or call 785-564-6767.
Recent out-of-compliance inspections:
Carniceria El Guero, 4900 E. Lincoln in Wichita — Eleven violations for not labeling foods in English, raw bacon stored in contact with ready-to-eat deli meats, chub of ham and cooked beans at unsafe temperatures, employee unsure how long eggs had been sitting on a storage shelf, meatloaf not marked with preparation or opening date, dirty vegetable slicer, hand-washing sink in meat cutting room blocked by a freezer and several storage containers, no hand-drying supplies at sink, unlabeled chemical bottles, bottles of lighter fluid stored above containers of peppers and lard, over-the-counter drugs not labeled in English
Days Inn by Wyndham Wichita West, 550 S. Florence in Wichita — Seventeen violations for not having equipment to test strength of sanitizer, unlabeled chemical bottles, employees were washing ice buckets in room sinks instead of sanitizing them, broken GCFI outlet in one room, broken exit lights, leaky bathroom sink, dirty filter screens on heating and cooling units, no records showing how often CO detectors are checked or how often fire alarms and sprinklers are tested, missing emergency lights, broken smoke detector, smoke detectors not tested regularly, dirty carpet and tobacco ash on floor, bloody stains on mattresses, bed bugs in at least one room
Hampton Inn, 1701 Cambridge in Derby — Eight violations for not covering clean drinking glasses, unlabeled chemical bottle in laundry room, no cleaning or sanitizer in fitness room, hotel didn’t tell the Kansas Department of Agriculture that it has a bed bug infestation in at least one room, hotel didn’t keep logs showing when it tested carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, no pet advisory posted
Headz & Tailz Whisky Bar, 301 N. Washington in Wichita — Four violations for not keeping required information off of shellfish boxes that is used to track the source of food-borne illnesses, pan of raw mussels stored over cooked sausage in cooler, “bowl of cooked potatoes sitting directly on the floor,” potatoes at unsafe temperature
Jose Pepper’s Mexican Restaurant, 2243 N. Tyler Rd. in Wichita — Thirteen violations for storing raw meat and eggs over cooked foods in cooler, cook not washing hands after touching raw beef, foods including cheeses and produce at unsafe temperatures, foods not labeled with opening or preparation dates, cheese enchiladas not marked with preparation time, dirty and broken equipment, no hand-drying supplies at hand-washing sink, restaurant not keeping certain records required, most-current food license was not posted for customers to see
Papa John’s Pizza, 3236 N. Rock Rd. Ste. 120 in Wichita — Eight violations for ingredients not labeled with opening or preparation dates, missing documentation, pizza sauce not marked with preparation time, chipped and cracked food containers, dirty equipment, broken hand-washing sink, leaky mop sink, food license wasn’t posted for customers to see
Walmart Supercenter, 2020 N. Nelson in Derby — Three violations for cheesecakes and meats stored at unsafe temperatures, dairy foods and other deli items at unsafe temperatures, about “twenty small flying insects were swarming over produce on a cart in the produce room,” faucet connections installed wrong
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 4:51 AM.
