Last year a Beaumont catering company found a rat head in a can of Allen's green beans. The same thing happened to a Utah woman and now it may have happened again. A New Braunfels (Texas) woman says she found the body of a rat in a can of Allen's Green Beans she was preparing for the Super Bowl. The Beaumont catering company wants to rally support to either boycott Allen's or file a class action lawsuit to get the plant cleaned up.
The woman from New Braunfels remembered a similar story from Beaumont. She decided to call the Beaumont business and her local news. The New Braunfels Wal-Mart agreed to take Allen's Green Beans off the shelves. The same thing that happened in Beaumont less than a year ago.
However, other stores across the country carry Allen's but Pamela Byrd doesn't think anything changed after she reported the rat head. So now three different people from three different places have something in common.
"Go to the plant. Inspect the plant. Find out what's going on. Obviously something is going on. This lady is from New Braunfels. Ms. Watson is from Utah. We're in Beaumont. Ok? Something is going on," said Pamela Byrd.
A former employee of the Georgia peanut plant at the center of a criminal investigation in a nationwide salmonella outbreak says he saw a rat dry-roasting in a peanut area.
Jonathan Prather was one of 50 people who lost their jobs last month when the Peanut Corporation of America shut down its plant in Blakely. The outbreak is blamed in as many as eight deaths and has sickened some 500 people, authorities say. Many products made with peanut paste from the plant have been recalled.
In addition, a peanut processing plant in Texas run by the Virginia company blamed for the outbreak operated for years un-inspected and unlicensed by government health officials, The Associated Press has learned.
Prather describes a building in which roaches were a constant problem, saying, "Roaches get up there in the dry roast. Some of them blend in with the peanuts. You'd never know they're there."
Health inspectors also noticed roaches as they searched for the source of the salmonella, saying, "A live roach and several dead roaches were observed in the firm's wash room."
But, three or four months ago, Prather says, he saw the rat "dry roasting in the peanuts."
He says he also frequently saw rat droppings in the area where peanut products were made, where Prather worked.
Health inspectors say they found "gaping" holes in walls, but didn't report evidence of rodents or droppings. They did find holes elsewhere, saying, "There were open gaps observed as large as ... two-and-a-half feet at the air conditioner intakes located in the roof of the firm."
Prather says there were "plenty of holes in the roof, throughout the roof. And when it rained, water just came through the whole plant."
Mold was also spotted by investigators, as were mops washed in the same sink as peanut product production equipment, Glor points out. "Any of these alleged violations," Glor says, "could be the source of salmonella, which the company's own documents say was discovered at least a dozen times. Peanut Corporation of America is accused of retesting the samples, "lab shopping," until it got favorable results."
Prather says it saddens him that many people have been impacted by the salmonella, adding he's speaking out now.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 EL PASO, Texas -- Lin's Buffet in El Paso, Texas, hasn't re-opened its doors since a woman claimed she found a mouse in her food.
Health inspectors conducted an unannounced inspection, which the restaurant failed, EL Paso station KFOX reported.
Food inspectors said the restaurant will not open until all violations are corrected. Authorities investigated after Maria Gonzalez reported she found a mouse in her food on Friday night.
"I saw its tail and I started throwing up," Gonzalez said.
According to the Health Department's Web site, Lin's has failed six food inspections in eight months.
"Just knowing that mice carry so many diseases. Even if it's cooked and everything...but," Gonzalez said.
A Lin's manager claimed Gonzalez may have put the mouse on her food.
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.
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.
