Food for Thought Report 2.8 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

This pizza, pizza is perfect, perfect. Little Caesars at 417 Frankford is a first time top performer.

Open only two weeks, the Office Grill and Sports Bar at 6202 Iola is on the perfect track. From hamburgers to fried cheese anything you order is handmade and sizzling with perfection.

We top off our top performers with something sweet and healthy. Edible Arrangements at 8215 University offers a variety of delicious and delectable, edible fruit baskets.

O.L. Slaton Middle School at 1600 32nd Street is the only school that was flawless in its most recent health inspection. Making them the only top performer.

Four other LISD schools had one critical violation.

• Inspectors found mouse bait in small paper bags at Wheatley Elementary at 1802 East 28th street. They must be kept in tamper proof stations.
• At Dunbar Middle School at 2010 East 26th Street an employee touched hamburger buns and then the warmer with the same glove.
• An employee at Hodges Elementary at 5001 Avenue P was coughing while handling food. She said she is coming down with something and will avoid food preparation and handling.
• And at Estacado High School at 1504 East Itasca beans were found as low as 69 degrees. They must be at least 135.

Aramark School Support Services, who manages all of LISD's kitchens, 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."

The report shows that as well.

Food for Thought 2.8 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 2/8/07.

Here's a look at this week's low performers.

Kentucky Fried Chicken at 2219 19th Street had five critical violations.

KFC's district manager Alex Ambriz took us inside the kitchen to their show customers all violations have been taken care of.

"This store has been a top performer in the past. We've done good, and hopefully by allowing them to come back into our kitchen with ya'll assistance I hope they can see that we've addressed and taken care of these issues," Alex said.

Let's take a look at the violations.

• Personal drinks and drinks without lids were found on a food prep table and none food contact surfaces.
• Rodent droppings were found in a closet.

Alex says this is an issue they've never had to deal with before, but they addressed it immediately.

"We're dealing with a national pest control company, and they've come in and cleaned up the problem. It's been taken care of. So, we just want to make sure our customers understand that their health is their main concern," Alex said.

• Toxic items were stored improperly.

"One of the girls was cleaning and she went up to tend to a customer and instead of setting it on a counter she just thought her first instinct was to set it on the counter next to her," Alex said. 

Alex adds that she was a new employee and has been retrained about proper placement of toxic items.

• The wrong type of thermometer was used during the inspection. Since then new thermometers are being used.
• Tongs were found on unclean surfaces throughout the facility. 

Alex says the tongs are used to dip chicken at the flavor stations. Since their inspection, they have set up a designated area after each use.

Alex adds that they do strict routine checks three times a day, and this location recently received the highest health score in the KFC company during a routine cooperate inspection.

Church's Fried Chicken at 905 Ave. Q had six critical violations.

• An employee did not wash their hands before putting on gloves.
• Employees open drink was found near ready to eat chicken.
• The hot and cold water tap were blocked making hand washing impossible.
• Two hand wash stations did not have towels and another did not have soap.
• The mechanical ware-wash machine was not sanitizing.
• Drink lids had food product splashes on them.

Management says, "All violations have been corrected." The report shows all but one violation was corrected while the inspector was there.

El Chico at 4301 Brownfield also had six critical violations.

• Shredded cheese and diced tomatoes were above 41 degrees.
• Grilled vegetables were not holding at 135 degrees or hotter.
• There was no soap at the hand sink in the employee women's rest room.
• The wrong type of thermometer was used.
• There were soiled scoops in the sugar, flour and rice bins. And plates were chipped.
• The facility does not have proper disclosure posted for undercooked beef.

Management says, "All violations have been corrected." The report show most were corrected at the time of the inspection.

Pinocchio's Pizza at 5404 4th Street had eight critical violations.

• Chicken was between 47 and 53 degrees. It must be 41 degrees or below.
• The walk-in cooler was not holding products at 41 degrees or below.
• Employees did not wash their hands before handling food.
• Open drinks were found on the food prep tables.
• Dented cans were stored with usable products.
• A spray bottle was not labeled.
• The automatic dishwasher was not dispensing sanitizer.
• Plates were stored on a soiled mat and the dish racks were heavily soiled.

Pinocchio's is under new ownership. The owner says,"We are in the process of training new employees and updating and upgrading equipment (like their walk-in cooler and automatic dishwasher)." He adds, "All violations have been corrected." The report shows most were corrected during the inspection.