Food for Thought Report 11.4 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

11/4/04

Food for Thought Report 11.4

Four area schools, all within the Lubbock Independent School District, wowed health inspectors this past week. That earns them a gold star in Food for Thought. The mission at Dunbar Junior High is to empower students to achieve and the cafeteria staff has achieved quite a bit themselves. So much in fact, they're our first top performing school.

Food for Thought 11.4
Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 11/4/04.

Dunbar's fellow LISD school, O.L. Slaton Junior High, is also a top performer. Kitchen staff keep their Scarlet Knights well fed and they do it perfectly according to Lubbock health inspectors.

Iles Elementary is also at the top of the class this week. Iles emphasizes the performing arts and how appropriate that they performed flawlessly on their last health inspection.

Last among the schools but certainly not least, Wheatley Elementary had zero critical violations, earning them top performer status. The Wheatley Tiger pride obviously extends from the classroom into the kitchen.

As for the restaurants this week, for one it's good news, for two others not so good. That not so good news hit hard for a face familiar to Food for Thought. But let's start with our only top performer. The Burger House at 5107 29th Drive passed the test this week. A surprise visit from health inspectors was no problem. The Burger House was left with zero critical violations.

Our first low performer is wishing they could say the same, but instead Furr's Cafeteria on South Loop 289 received four criticals. That was a crushing blow to a member of the NewsChannel 11 staff. We caught John Berry (of Streets of Speed fame) coming out of Furr's and broke the news. He replied, "What this place? No!"

John eats at Furr's at least once a week if not twice and he immediately wanted to know the violations.

  • Improper cold hold of potentially hazardous foods. Milk was found at 48 degrees on the food line and cheese was found at 57 degrees. Cold foods must be held at 45 degrees or cooler.
  • A water nozzle stored with the ice created a cross contamination hazard.
  • Inaccurate date marking
  • A hand washing sink in the bakery area was blocked by a cart.

The good news is all violations were corrected on site. Great news because nothing will keep John from his favorite restaurant!

Our second and last low performer is a repeat low: the Little Panda at 1213 University. The restaurant's five violations were:

  • Fried chicken sitting on a counter at 62 degrees after being cooled in a cooler.
  • Fried rice was found at 122 degrees and egg drop soup at 133 degrees.
  • Employees were eating and drinking in the food prep area.
  • A spray bottled containing a toxic chemical was not labeled.
  • A meat cleaver was not in good repair.

All violations were corrected on site. A manager could not be reached for comment.