Wichita restaurant inspections: Rodents, duct tape in coffee chute, mislabeled shrimp
A coffee roasting company, a gas station and a Mexican bar and grill failed their Kansas Department of Agriculture food safety inspections last week. Their violations include having food that was too old to serve safely to customers, evidence of a pest infestation and keeping mislabeled or unlabeled items in their kitchens, a check of Sedgwick County’s non-compliant inspections from May 30 to June 5 shows.
One business had duct tape on the inside of a chute that touched food. An inspector pointed out that tape isn’t easy to clean and could be a hang-out spot for pathogens, one report says.
A list of the three local non-compliant businesses, compiled June 7, appears below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More information, including 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.
More than 15 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:
CRH Coffee, 1912 N. Mosley in Wichita — Two violations for using duct tape inside of a chute connecting a coffee bean roaster to a cooling bin, not having equipment for testing strength of sanitizer
Country Acres Market, 310 N. Andale Road in Andale — Five violations for not marking lettuce with its preparation date, old cheese and burrito mix, damaged or broken cooking utensils, “approximately twenty-five small rodent droppings in the corner of the kitchen” under a sink with more on the basement floor in several areas
Mexico Viejo Mexican Restaurant, 6960 W. 21st St. in Wichita — Six violations for thawing fish improperly, employee not wearing gloves to handle tortillas, wrong date on container of shrimp, unlabeled chemical bottle, spray nozzle for degreaser lying on box of vegetable oil, glass cleaner nozzle facing salt and pepper shakers
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 4:07 AM.
