A look into the lives of CSU's Current Environmental Health Interns
Mythbuster!
Resident food inspector here to dispel myths, speak the scary truths, and impart some wisdom on what to order when going out to eat.
First off, let me preface by noting that inspections are not easy! There’s so much gray area in some of the regulations that you have to be confident and decisive about whether to cite a violation and take appropriate actions, but here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Places with the least amount of food preparation are the easiest inspections. False. The ones you think will be the easiest, like a convenience store are typically the worst. I went to a fueling station that sold hot dogs and such, and I don’t know where they were even washing their hands. Which leads me to assume…they don’t.
2. You don’t need to wash your hands in between changing gloves. False. Please wash your hands! Seriously, wash them ALL the time. Ever in doubt about whether hand washing is needed? Quick fix: just wash your hands!
3. You can have personal drinks next to you when preparing food. FALSE! This is one of the most common violations I’ve seen. Personal drinks should always have a lid and be stored below the food. Same with eating. You can’t smoke either. Or wear jewelry. Or drag your clothing through food.
4. Rodents are a bad thing to have in a restaurant. True! Shocking, isn’t it? If I had rodents in my restaurant, I’d want to get rid of them right away. Apparently it’s not much of a concern for some restaurants. It should be; if we see evidence of a rodent infestation, we will shut your restaurant down until pest control has taken place. Oh, and cockroaches aren’t good either. Cockroaches are pretty rare to see in Weld County, so if they're spotted, then there’s definitely a problem.
5. Sarah does not know Spanish. False. While I may not be fluent, I know enough to get the general gist of what’s being said. So if you really want to assume I don’t understand you, keep on talking. Just know that I know you’re telling your employee the right way to wash their hands just while we’re looking. I heard that, and yes, you are still getting a violation!
6. You can grab lemons to put in a drink with bare hands. False. You can’t touch foods that are ready to eat with your bare hands. Use gloves, tongs, ect. This rule also goes for preparing salads, arranging the food on the plate, garnishing a taco, ect. Don’t touch the food. Please.
7. You should clean on a regular basis. True. Too bad some people don’t believe that. One would think that a thick layer of sticky, smelly, and nasty goo all over would be an indication that things need to be cleaned. Apparently not…
8. You never need to clean the ice machine. False. YUCK. I hate seeing dirty ice machines. If you work in a place where you use an ice machine, please take it apart and clean it. RIGHT NOW! Seeing algae and mold is not a pleasant thing. Would you want that in your drink? I didn’t think so!
9. Inspections are boring. False! I have seen some crazy things and talk to me if you ever want some crazy stories! I have a great one from this week. The people are usually great as well and want to make their restaurant better. Usually. Some are pretty feisty…which can be fun too.
Wiser food choices:
a. Green chili- Sadly this is one of the most common items that we have to throw out for being out of temperature. Restaurants like to put the chili in massive buckets and then put them in the cooler to cool overnight. Chances are that the middle of the bucket did not cool down. Especially if the bucket was covered with saran wrap. I still like green chili too much to stop ordering it, but I might change my tune soon….
b. Country gravy-Same issues + thicker substance = nice and warm and full of even more bacteria
c. Steak-One of the safest choices. As long as the outside gets cooked, it doesn’t matter how warm the inside gets because there shouldn’t be bacteria there. Ground beef on the other hand is riskier. Since the outer surface has now been mixed around the patty, it needs to be cooked all the way through (155F).
d. Acidic foods are usually pretty safe. We don’t usually care about them being out of temperature.
e. Fast food restaurants are typically better than restaurants because they have corporate policies and their own internal inspections. Same with the food bank, they have the strictest regulations I’ve ever come across. However, it is a certain fast food chain’s corporate policy to allow hand sanitizer to be used in place of hand washing. Not acceptable.
Oh, and I just learned that the Swift meat plant is a couple blocks down. No wonder the office smells sometimes….
First off, let me preface by noting that inspections are not easy! There’s so much gray area in some of the regulations that you have to be confident and decisive about whether to cite a violation and take appropriate actions, but here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Places with the least amount of food preparation are the easiest inspections. False. The ones you think will be the easiest, like a convenience store are typically the worst. I went to a fueling station that sold hot dogs and such, and I don’t know where they were even washing their hands. Which leads me to assume…they don’t.
2. You don’t need to wash your hands in between changing gloves. False. Please wash your hands! Seriously, wash them ALL the time. Ever in doubt about whether hand washing is needed? Quick fix: just wash your hands!
3. You can have personal drinks next to you when preparing food. FALSE! This is one of the most common violations I’ve seen. Personal drinks should always have a lid and be stored below the food. Same with eating. You can’t smoke either. Or wear jewelry. Or drag your clothing through food.
4. Rodents are a bad thing to have in a restaurant. True! Shocking, isn’t it? If I had rodents in my restaurant, I’d want to get rid of them right away. Apparently it’s not much of a concern for some restaurants. It should be; if we see evidence of a rodent infestation, we will shut your restaurant down until pest control has taken place. Oh, and cockroaches aren’t good either. Cockroaches are pretty rare to see in Weld County, so if they're spotted, then there’s definitely a problem.
5. Sarah does not know Spanish. False. While I may not be fluent, I know enough to get the general gist of what’s being said. So if you really want to assume I don’t understand you, keep on talking. Just know that I know you’re telling your employee the right way to wash their hands just while we’re looking. I heard that, and yes, you are still getting a violation!
6. You can grab lemons to put in a drink with bare hands. False. You can’t touch foods that are ready to eat with your bare hands. Use gloves, tongs, ect. This rule also goes for preparing salads, arranging the food on the plate, garnishing a taco, ect. Don’t touch the food. Please.
7. You should clean on a regular basis. True. Too bad some people don’t believe that. One would think that a thick layer of sticky, smelly, and nasty goo all over would be an indication that things need to be cleaned. Apparently not…
8. You never need to clean the ice machine. False. YUCK. I hate seeing dirty ice machines. If you work in a place where you use an ice machine, please take it apart and clean it. RIGHT NOW! Seeing algae and mold is not a pleasant thing. Would you want that in your drink? I didn’t think so!
9. Inspections are boring. False! I have seen some crazy things and talk to me if you ever want some crazy stories! I have a great one from this week. The people are usually great as well and want to make their restaurant better. Usually. Some are pretty feisty…which can be fun too.
Wiser food choices:
a. Green chili- Sadly this is one of the most common items that we have to throw out for being out of temperature. Restaurants like to put the chili in massive buckets and then put them in the cooler to cool overnight. Chances are that the middle of the bucket did not cool down. Especially if the bucket was covered with saran wrap. I still like green chili too much to stop ordering it, but I might change my tune soon….
b. Country gravy-Same issues + thicker substance = nice and warm and full of even more bacteria
c. Steak-One of the safest choices. As long as the outside gets cooked, it doesn’t matter how warm the inside gets because there shouldn’t be bacteria there. Ground beef on the other hand is riskier. Since the outer surface has now been mixed around the patty, it needs to be cooked all the way through (155F).
d. Acidic foods are usually pretty safe. We don’t usually care about them being out of temperature.
e. Fast food restaurants are typically better than restaurants because they have corporate policies and their own internal inspections. Same with the food bank, they have the strictest regulations I’ve ever come across. However, it is a certain fast food chain’s corporate policy to allow hand sanitizer to be used in place of hand washing. Not acceptable.
Oh, and I just learned that the Swift meat plant is a couple blocks down. No wonder the office smells sometimes….
Comment
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Comment by Erin Reichert on June 17, 2008 at 9:21am -
so Sam and Sarah, have you guys ever checked out:
http://healthinspector.com/?
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Comment by Samantha Kantrowitz on June 16, 2008 at 8:06pm - I agree on ice machines--- I saw a gross one today. EWWW!
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