Wichita inspections: Bed bugs, piled-up trash, missing labels, pool closed over water
A diner, a gourmet candy store, a motel, a sandwich shop and two Asian grocers failed their Kansas Department of Agriculture food and lodging safety inspections last week. Their violations include keeping cold foods too warm and hot foods too cool to safely serve to customers, not putting labels on foods out for sale, a bed bug infestation and ice buildup on the back of a cooler that was bad enough to keep it from working properly, a check of Sedgwick County’s non-compliant inspections from July 11-17 shows.
One of the Asian grocery stores had so much trash and so many boxes piled up outside by trash cans that it had attracted bugs, according to an inspection report.
The motel closed its swimming pool because the chlorine and pH levels of the water weren’t right, another report says. The inspector was also concerned that its fire extinguishers hadn’t been inspected in two years.
A list of the six local non-compliant businesses, compiled July 20, appears below with a summary of the problems inspectors noted on their reports. More information, including specific violation descriptions and inspection dates, is posted in The Eagle’s searchable, non-compliant restaurant and hotel inspection database at www.kansas.com/databases.
More than 30 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 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:
Denny’s, 4024 E. Harry in Wichita — Three violations for having food at unsafe temperatures both in a steam table and in refrigeration, cream cheese frosting stored at room temperature. Follow-up inspection set for July 25.
The Farris Wheel Candy Co., 9747 E. 21st St. in Wichita — Four violations for selling food made at the facility that isn’t labeled including with ingredient information, dishwasher doesn’t have a thermometer on it, the only hand-washing sink in the food preparation area couldn’t be used because it’s “directly connected to the dishwasher.” Follow-up inspection scheduled for Aug. 3.
Grace Market, 1030 S. Oliver St. in Wichita — Two violations for kimchi and sauce stored at unsafe temperatures, refrigerated foods including bean sprouts and fish corn dog stored at unsafe temperatures due to ice build up on the back of the cooler, business doesn’t have a probe thermometer to check food temperatures. Follow-up inspection scheduled for July 25.
Motel 6, 5736 W. Kellogg Dr. in Wichita — Nine violations for not having equipment to test the strength of sanitizer used to wash ice buckets, no thermometer to check water temperature, chlorine and pH levels in pool were not correct so the pool had to close, no record of CO or smoke detectors being checked every six months, some rooms missing evacuation route diagrams, fire extinguishers were overdue for inspection and had last been inspected two years ago, no smoke detector in laundry room, bed bugs. Follow-up inspection set for July 24.
Schlotzsky’s, 1334 W. Pawnee in Wichita — One violation for “no air gap or dual check valve with an intermediate vent supplied upstream from the carbonating device.” Follow-up inspection scheduled for July 22.
Thai An Oriental Market, 2425 S. Hillside in Wichita — Sixteen violations for not labeling salmon skin and beef jerky with ingredient information, dented cans, raw oysters and clams for sale that didn’t have a dealer tag with them, raw pork stored above cooked pork and dumplings in cooler, baked breads and pastries “not protected from contamination at customer self serve” area, store is letting customer self-serve raw fish and other seafood instead of having staff assist them, variety of hot-food items for sale weren’t kept warm enough to serve safely, variety of items that should be refrigerated including cakes and sandwiches left out at room temperature overnight, store vacuum-packs frozen fish without proper plan in place, pork items and cakes missing labels, no equipment for testing strength of sanitizer used on dishes, food stored in hand-washing sink so it couldn’t be used, pile of boxes and trash “building up” outside of store next to trash cans which is attracting “a large amount of winged bugs,” “approximately 100 small winged bugs were flying around” food preparations areas and the back door. Follow-up inspection set for July 22.
This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 4:36 AM.
