Health Dept. Roundup: Cold Treat Edition

At Dairy Land (310 Cavalcade), a June 3 routine inspection found an impressive 15 violations, and resulted in the shop's temporary closure. Inspectors visited again on June 7 to re-inspect and found, well, another 15 violations. The second time, however, the paperwork was in order and they left the shop open. Violations included serving a highly susceptible population ("kids" would have been shorter) using bare hands, not keeping hazardous food colder than 41 degrees or hotter than 135 degrees, and using shipping containers as support shelves. Also, some foods were not safe for human consumption or not free from spoilage, filth or other contaminants, prepared food (and bulk food) was removed from its original containers and stored in unclean, uncovered or unmarked containers, and potentially hazardous food was not marked with a "use-by" date.

In addition, the microwave was not cleaned at least once each day, the "no smoking" signs were not visible enough, there was no trash can in the bathroom, there was not enough light in the kitchen, and the surfaces of equipment were not cleaned often enough to keep them free of dust and dirt. Some equipment and utensils also were not constructed of safe materials, were not easy to clean or were not well maintained, and the pesticide being used was not approved by governmental authorities. Lastly, the ice machine was not installed properly to prevent the contamination of the ice.

An about-to-open Berripop (3939 Washington Ave.) was cited in a June 7 visit for not keeping its equipment components intact, tight or adjusted in accordance with manufacturer's specifications.

A June 7 visit to Wendy's (1207 Gessner) --Frosties, anyone? -- found equipment or utensils not clean to sight or touch and equipment not in good repair, not capable of being maintained in sanitary condition or with a food-contact surface that was toxic. At least one employee also was wearing fingernail polish or artificial nails while preparing food without gloves on.

No violations were found at Ice Cream Parlor (3530 Scott St.) or at Titan's Snowcones (1910 Tidwell Lane), but we learned the parlor is about to open and that Titan's is changing ownership.