Food for Thought Report 3.30 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

3/30/06

Food for Thought Report 3.30

Health inspectors kept busy this week checking out 35 local kitchens. Fourteen of those were school cafeterias, and more than half of those schools were less than perfect.

We begin at Brown Elementary at 2315 36th Street. Inspectors found one critical violation. The say thermometers were not properly calibrated.

Food for Thought 3.30
Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 3/30/06.

Next inspectors say they found a tray of equipment with food particles on it at Hardwick Elementary at 1420 Chicago Avenue. Inspectors also noted that cutlery was not dispensed handles first.

Murfee Elementary at 6901 Nashville Avenue had one critical violation.

  • Food contact surfaces were soiled.

Soiled surfaces were also found at Waters Elementary at 3006 78th Street. Other violations include:

  • Packaging on hamburger meat was open while it was thawing in a cooler.
  • Potential blocking of a hand sink.

Next we head to Stewart Elementary at 4815 46th Street where inspectors noted improper temperatures.

  • Turkey was found at 44 degrees. Yogurt and sour cream was found at 46 degrees.

Two critical violations were noted at Haynes Elementary at 3802 60th Street.

  • Thermometers were not properly calibrated.
  • Food contact surfaces were soiled. Chicken was also thawing improperly.

Monterey High School at 3211 47th Street was sited for the same two critical violations.

At Maedgen Elementary School at 4401 Nashville Avenue had two critical violations.

  • Inspectors observed employees not washing their hands or changing gloves after touching their face or picking up trash off the floor. Inspectors discussed proper hand washing procedures with management during the inspection.
  • They also noted that knives were found with bent and broken tips.

We contacted Aramark School Support Services, who manages all of LISD's kitchens, they released this comment:

"Our top priority is to ensure that the food served at LISD is of the highest quality within the safest environment possible. We continuously train our managers and employees on proper techniques in food handling and food safety procedures. The violations that were found during the inspection were corrected on site."

Health reports show that as well.

And now to the good news. Six schools aced their health inspection, they include: Bowie, Mahon, Rush and Wright Elementaries along with Mackenzie and Smylie Wilson Junior Highs

Now on to our top performing restaurants.

Chatman Hill E.T. and BBQ at 512 East 23rd Street racks up another perfect health inspection, giving them a repeat spot on the food for thought top performing list.

Tom and Bingo's BBQ at 3006 34th did a job well done and grilled up zero critical violations in their health inspection. They're a repeat top performer as well.