Wednesday, January 28, 2009
How Safe Is The Food At The Garden?
BOSTON (WBZ Kathy Curran) ― From rodent droppings to unsanitized utensils and improperly stored food -- those are just some of the violations found by health inspectors at the TD Banknorth Garden. So when you go catch a game how safe is the food? The I-Team checked out the inspection reports at the Garden and Gillette Stadium.
Boston health inspectors making the rounds say if what they found isn't corrected some food being served up could make sports fans sick.
According to the 2008 inspection reports from the restaurants and concessions at the TD Banknorth Garden, there were 54 violations in two inspections.
"Three food borne illness factors," said Assistant Commissioner Thomas Goodfellow with the Division of Health Inspections.
The violations at the Premium Club, one of the upscale restaurants at the Garden, included improper storage of raw poultry and dairy products not being at the right temperature.
"The worry is that there is a bacterium on the product that hasn't been cooked," Goodfellow explained.
The Banner Restaurant failed inspection because they weren't sanitizing utensils properly. At the executive suites and legends restaurant there were minor violations. The biggest problems were in the food stands around the arena.
There were rodent droppings on the floor. At Hungry for Hockey the hot dogs weren't hot enough, which means bacteria could grow. In other area grills, ceilings and floors were dirty, utensils weren't sanitized, and fruit flies were circling and landing on fresh fruit.
Together the restaurants and concessions at the Garden feed about 18,000 people daily. A spokesperson for the Garden says that puts these violations in perspective, but the city says any violation is serious.
"We cite them to get them corrected," Goodfellow explained. "We cite them also to get them educated. The food service operators that this is an issue you're going to have to take care of that.
We were there as city inspectors were back on site last week checking kitchens.
On that scheduled re-inspection the Garden passed.
We told Bruins fan Shannon McLaughlin and her crew about the previous violations as they headed in to catch the game.
"I think it should be a higher standard," she said. "They're feeding mass numbers of people so it's understandable, but obviously I would like to see them do their best to keep it safe."
In a statement, SportService, the company in charge of the Garden food, says it takes guests health and safety very seriously and assures fans they expend great effort in adhering to the highest standards.
The I-Team headed south to Foxboro to the home of the Patriots to see how the food at Gillette Stadium stacked up. We looked at the past seven inspections of the stadium. According to town records there wasn't one violation.
"It might be surprising, but it's true," said Foxboro Board of Health chairman Eric Arvedon.
When town officials were asked about the results of these inspections, they said they only had one person doing inspections for this stadium and the entire town.
But the chairman for the Foxboro board of health tells us it's not a manpower issue. The Patriots have a food safety consulting company that inspects everything and helps them stay in compliance.
"That's proactive," Arvedon said. "That costs money but in the end look at the results, the results speak for themselves. We don't just go in and inspect once or twice we go to every event and spotcheck."
"We want to make sure when we finish with the inspections they're aware of what they have to do and that food establishment is going to operate in a safe and sanitary manner 365 days a year," Goodfellow said.
Officials for the Patriots and the Garden both say they train and certify employees in food safety. Foxborough has certified two additional people in town to do inspections.
Monday, January 12, 2009
San Antonio's Dirty Dozen
Roaches, rodents, and flying insects. When you head out to eat you expect a clean restaurant. But how do you know for sure?
The health department gets more than 100 complaints of food poisoning a year. To keep you safe, health inspectors make sure restaurants follow food safety codes.
Inspectors give demerits violations, such as, food at unsafe temperatures, contamination of food, and signs of roaches or mice.
Dirty Dozen #12: We have a two-way tie with an average of just over 22 demerits. At the Jacala Restaurant on West Ave., inspectors found insects and slime in the ice machine. At Flor De Chiapas on Blanco the inspector found meat sitting out to thaw and food in the fridge wasn't labeled with a use-by date.
Dirty Dozen #10: With an average score of 23 demerits is Sushi Zushi on I-10 and Wurzbach. The inspector found they were not storing cleaning chemicals properly and he found drain flies.
Dirty Dozen #9: El Sombrero on Bandera averaged more than 23 demerits. The inspector found evidence of rodents and they were using the same cutting board for the raw chicken and the vegetables.
Dirty Dozen #8: Andrea's Mexican Restaurant located on SW Loop 410 pulled in an average of more than 24 demerits. Inspectors found raw meat bleeding on the potatoes. They were eventually thrown out. Also, there was no soap in the employee restroom.
Dirty Dozen #7: Two restaurants tie again with an average of 25 demerits. At the Taqueria Jalisco on Zarzamora the health inspector found rodent droppings on two separate occasions and evidence of insects. At Rocky's Tacos on Pleasanton the inspector reported flies in the food prep area and noticed employees were not washing their hands after handling food.
Dirty Dozen #5: El Potosino on Bandera Road came in with an average of more than 25 demerits. The health inspector found roaches in the kitchen and gnats in the storage room.
Dirty Dozen #4: Taqueria Jalisco on Old Pearsall Rd. scored an average of 26 demerits. After a customer complained of seeing a mouse in the dining room, the inspector found rodent droppings and spoiled vegetables in the pantry.
Dirty Dozen #3: Taqueria El Rancho De Jalisco on Dollarhide averaged more than 26 demerits. In one inspection, the inspector wrote "too many flies". In another, he noted that chicken was thawing in the hand sink.
Dirty Dozen #2: Taqueria Guadalajara on Vance Jackson averaged 29 demerits. The inspector found gnats in the kitchen, food cooling on the floor, and food kept at an unsafe temperature.
So which restaurant was the dirtiest?
Dirty Dozen #1: China Harbor III on Southwest Military Drive. They served up an unbelievable 45 average demerits on three food safety inspections from the health department in the past twelve months. On one visit the inspector gave them 59 demerits. He cited them for storing gasoline in the restaurant and smoking in the kitchen.
The inspector also told the manager to stop spraying raid insect spray around food and customers. The manager refused to comment, but some customers gave us their reaction to the news.
"It's kind of weird, you wouldn't think a big restaurant like this would have the problems that it does have with the food control and the sanitary you know conditions," said one customer.
Another told us,"That's nasty. You know for being a buffet it should be a better place."
Only three restaurants responded to our story.
The owner of El Sombrero said they haven't had a bad inspection in months and everything is clean. The owner of Sushi Zushi said everything is always clean and all violations have been corrected. Workers at Taqueria Guadalajara said they have new owners and are fixing all the problems.
The health department gets more than 100 complaints of food poisoning a year. To keep you safe, health inspectors make sure restaurants follow food safety codes.
Inspectors give demerits violations, such as, food at unsafe temperatures, contamination of food, and signs of roaches or mice.
Dirty Dozen #12: We have a two-way tie with an average of just over 22 demerits. At the Jacala Restaurant on West Ave., inspectors found insects and slime in the ice machine. At Flor De Chiapas on Blanco the inspector found meat sitting out to thaw and food in the fridge wasn't labeled with a use-by date.
Dirty Dozen #10: With an average score of 23 demerits is Sushi Zushi on I-10 and Wurzbach. The inspector found they were not storing cleaning chemicals properly and he found drain flies.
Dirty Dozen #9: El Sombrero on Bandera averaged more than 23 demerits. The inspector found evidence of rodents and they were using the same cutting board for the raw chicken and the vegetables.
Dirty Dozen #8: Andrea's Mexican Restaurant located on SW Loop 410 pulled in an average of more than 24 demerits. Inspectors found raw meat bleeding on the potatoes. They were eventually thrown out. Also, there was no soap in the employee restroom.
Dirty Dozen #7: Two restaurants tie again with an average of 25 demerits. At the Taqueria Jalisco on Zarzamora the health inspector found rodent droppings on two separate occasions and evidence of insects. At Rocky's Tacos on Pleasanton the inspector reported flies in the food prep area and noticed employees were not washing their hands after handling food.
Dirty Dozen #5: El Potosino on Bandera Road came in with an average of more than 25 demerits. The health inspector found roaches in the kitchen and gnats in the storage room.
Dirty Dozen #4: Taqueria Jalisco on Old Pearsall Rd. scored an average of 26 demerits. After a customer complained of seeing a mouse in the dining room, the inspector found rodent droppings and spoiled vegetables in the pantry.
Dirty Dozen #3: Taqueria El Rancho De Jalisco on Dollarhide averaged more than 26 demerits. In one inspection, the inspector wrote "too many flies". In another, he noted that chicken was thawing in the hand sink.
Dirty Dozen #2: Taqueria Guadalajara on Vance Jackson averaged 29 demerits. The inspector found gnats in the kitchen, food cooling on the floor, and food kept at an unsafe temperature.
So which restaurant was the dirtiest?
Dirty Dozen #1: China Harbor III on Southwest Military Drive. They served up an unbelievable 45 average demerits on three food safety inspections from the health department in the past twelve months. On one visit the inspector gave them 59 demerits. He cited them for storing gasoline in the restaurant and smoking in the kitchen.
The inspector also told the manager to stop spraying raid insect spray around food and customers. The manager refused to comment, but some customers gave us their reaction to the news.
"It's kind of weird, you wouldn't think a big restaurant like this would have the problems that it does have with the food control and the sanitary you know conditions," said one customer.
Another told us,"That's nasty. You know for being a buffet it should be a better place."
Only three restaurants responded to our story.
The owner of El Sombrero said they haven't had a bad inspection in months and everything is clean. The owner of Sushi Zushi said everything is always clean and all violations have been corrected. Workers at Taqueria Guadalajara said they have new owners and are fixing all the problems.
Women Claims Seeing Rats at McDonald's
New Haven,CT,USA - A Hamden woman claims she saw rats running around a local McDonald's but the restaurant manager insists she's exaggerating.
It was Saturday evening when Sue Calistro, her boyfriend and his 3-year-old were at the McDonald's in the Hamden Mart on Dixwell Avenue sitting in the child's play area when she says she spotted something.
"We looked down, a rat goes, runs over my foot, runs into the corner," Calistro, of Branford, said. "And there was about two or three of them running around one way and then the other co-worker saw a couple on the other end so at that point, we just grabbed the kids, left."
Surprised, horrified, Calistro called the manager and McDonald's corporation.
"They claimed it was from the doors being left open, from garbage around the building, you know, basically blaming it on customers when they come in, leaving the doors open too long," she said.
She says, they told her, what she saw were perhaps, some mice. "A mouse is about maybe an inch, inch and a half and they were a good three to four, maybe five inches," Calistro said.
Either way, she called a local news station, and they arrived at the store in question they did not see any rodents. The manager said they called an exterminator Monday morning after getting Calistro's complaint. But he says, they do not have a problem with rodents here and have passed all health inspections.
Still, Sue says, it's the last time she'll head to that McDonald's for a bite to eat.
It was Saturday evening when Sue Calistro, her boyfriend and his 3-year-old were at the McDonald's in the Hamden Mart on Dixwell Avenue sitting in the child's play area when she says she spotted something.
"We looked down, a rat goes, runs over my foot, runs into the corner," Calistro, of Branford, said. "And there was about two or three of them running around one way and then the other co-worker saw a couple on the other end so at that point, we just grabbed the kids, left."
Surprised, horrified, Calistro called the manager and McDonald's corporation.
"They claimed it was from the doors being left open, from garbage around the building, you know, basically blaming it on customers when they come in, leaving the doors open too long," she said.
She says, they told her, what she saw were perhaps, some mice. "A mouse is about maybe an inch, inch and a half and they were a good three to four, maybe five inches," Calistro said.
Either way, she called a local news station, and they arrived at the store in question they did not see any rodents. The manager said they called an exterminator Monday morning after getting Calistro's complaint. But he says, they do not have a problem with rodents here and have passed all health inspections.
Still, Sue says, it's the last time she'll head to that McDonald's for a bite to eat.
The Dirt On Chicago's Airport Dining
CHICAGO (CBS) ― Black mold is found in ice served at Midway Airport. At O'Hare, a rat hair is discovered in a sandwich. Before you fly out for the holidays, CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini exposes three years of health department violations in "The Dirt on Airport Dining."
They are popular airport eateries and they've repeatedly been caught putting travelers at risk. CBS 2 Investigators examined three years of inspection records revealing filthy and unsanitary conditions at O'Hare and Midway airports.
And then the 2 Investigators followed Arlene Lopez. She is one of the Chicago health department inspectors responsible for catching health code violators before they make you sick.
"They can get stomach aches, diarrhea," Lopez said.
She and her team have investigated numerous illness complaints at the airports, including E. coli and food poisoning from a pesticide.
At Midway Airport last year a traveler reported getting sick after eating at Lalo's. An inspection then found food surrounded by insects and food stored at unsafe temperatures. It was the third year in a row that Lalo's was cited for critical temperature violations.
Then it happened again this month – more food that can make you sick had to be destroyed.
Four-day-old beef was found at an unsafe temperature. It was thrown away along with an egg product left next to the grill.
The 2 Investigators' cameras also caught workers dripping and splashing water on the same faucet used to give customers drinking water.
At another Midway restaurant, Luigi Stefani's, sandwiches had to be destroyed and a critical violation was found – black mold in the ice machine. Stefani's is a repeat offender failing inspections in 2005 and 2006.
Some of O'Hare's restaurants also have repeated failures.
Pizzas, sausage, cheese and yogurt had to be destroyed at Reggio's Pizza Express in Terminal 1. It's failed three past inspections since 2007 for critical violations that include coolers not working.
The Doghouse restaurant ended up in the doghouse when inspectors found meat and cheese stored at unsafe temperatures. The food was immediately destroyed. It's also a repeat offender and had its license suspended in 2006. This time, the refrigerator was broken.
When asked about the condition of airport food, traveler Mike Sackett said, "It's pathetic."
Chili's in O'Hare's Terminal 1 has failed four inspections in the last three years. In 2006, a customer complained that he got sick with symptoms of E. coli after eating a Chili's burger. A year later another person reported getting sick - again from a burger.
When traveler Jeff Jung was asked if he expected restaurants at airports to be safe, he said, "You would hope so."
Since 2006, Manchu Wok in Terminal 1 failed twice. Wolfgang Puck restaurants had critical violations in the last two years, failing once in Terminal 1 and once in Terminal 3, where this year a customer claimed he got sick. Inspectors investigating the complaint observed two cooks with open sores on their hands. One had more than 20 that were red and blistered.
When traveler Vicki Kornick was asked what she thought about restaurants that repeatedly fail, she said, "I don't think they should be open."
Gate Gourmet, which provides food on airplanes, had four failures since 2006 including problems with food temperature, insects and rodents.
After repeated failures, Chili's in Terminal 1, Manchu Wok, and Gate Gourmet passed their most recent re-inspections. Reggio's passed with conditions that it fix the food storage system. Wolfgang Puck passed its most recent inspection as well and a spokesperson says it disputes the open sore allegations claiming all its cooks wear gloves. The Dog House repaired its refrigerator, but is going out of business this week.
Luigi Stefani's and Lalo's at Midway also passed with conditions that they fix their critical violations.
They are popular airport eateries and they've repeatedly been caught putting travelers at risk. CBS 2 Investigators examined three years of inspection records revealing filthy and unsanitary conditions at O'Hare and Midway airports.
And then the 2 Investigators followed Arlene Lopez. She is one of the Chicago health department inspectors responsible for catching health code violators before they make you sick.
"They can get stomach aches, diarrhea," Lopez said.
She and her team have investigated numerous illness complaints at the airports, including E. coli and food poisoning from a pesticide.
At Midway Airport last year a traveler reported getting sick after eating at Lalo's. An inspection then found food surrounded by insects and food stored at unsafe temperatures. It was the third year in a row that Lalo's was cited for critical temperature violations.
Then it happened again this month – more food that can make you sick had to be destroyed.
Four-day-old beef was found at an unsafe temperature. It was thrown away along with an egg product left next to the grill.
The 2 Investigators' cameras also caught workers dripping and splashing water on the same faucet used to give customers drinking water.
At another Midway restaurant, Luigi Stefani's, sandwiches had to be destroyed and a critical violation was found – black mold in the ice machine. Stefani's is a repeat offender failing inspections in 2005 and 2006.
Some of O'Hare's restaurants also have repeated failures.
Pizzas, sausage, cheese and yogurt had to be destroyed at Reggio's Pizza Express in Terminal 1. It's failed three past inspections since 2007 for critical violations that include coolers not working.
The Doghouse restaurant ended up in the doghouse when inspectors found meat and cheese stored at unsafe temperatures. The food was immediately destroyed. It's also a repeat offender and had its license suspended in 2006. This time, the refrigerator was broken.
When asked about the condition of airport food, traveler Mike Sackett said, "It's pathetic."
Chili's in O'Hare's Terminal 1 has failed four inspections in the last three years. In 2006, a customer complained that he got sick with symptoms of E. coli after eating a Chili's burger. A year later another person reported getting sick - again from a burger.
When traveler Jeff Jung was asked if he expected restaurants at airports to be safe, he said, "You would hope so."
Since 2006, Manchu Wok in Terminal 1 failed twice. Wolfgang Puck restaurants had critical violations in the last two years, failing once in Terminal 1 and once in Terminal 3, where this year a customer claimed he got sick. Inspectors investigating the complaint observed two cooks with open sores on their hands. One had more than 20 that were red and blistered.
When traveler Vicki Kornick was asked what she thought about restaurants that repeatedly fail, she said, "I don't think they should be open."
Gate Gourmet, which provides food on airplanes, had four failures since 2006 including problems with food temperature, insects and rodents.
After repeated failures, Chili's in Terminal 1, Manchu Wok, and Gate Gourmet passed their most recent re-inspections. Reggio's passed with conditions that it fix the food storage system. Wolfgang Puck passed its most recent inspection as well and a spokesperson says it disputes the open sore allegations claiming all its cooks wear gloves. The Dog House repaired its refrigerator, but is going out of business this week.
Luigi Stefani's and Lalo's at Midway also passed with conditions that they fix their critical violations.