Food for Thought Report 9.20 - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

Before vendors could open their stands for the 2007 Panhandle South Plains Fair they had to get the OK from the Lubbock Health Department.

"Well the first thing I like to do when I start an inspection is wash my hands," Environmental Health Manager Bridget Faulkenberry says.

That's right, just like restaurants, food booths at the Fair go through a full health inspection, "I'm checking for hot water, make sure they have hand soap, and they do, and paper towels. All the things you need to properly wash your hands, and this sets a good example. Everyday we ask people to be very diligent about washing their hands and it looks kind of stupid if we're doing an inspection and we're not doing it too."

Bridget says the initial inspection is to make sure each vendor has the necessities like hot water, thermometers and a clean kitchen. When we caught up with Bridget she was inspecting Red Bud Lions Club who opened early for the Buck-a-Ride Night, "What we were going to do here is since they have stuff cooking, we're going to check some temperatures. (Chile) needs to be 165 degrees. (It's) 190."

Bridget checked the temperature of all the foods cooking, but it doesn't stop there. She checks the thermometers, the ice machine, the dry storage, and the walk-in cooler. Just about every corner of the kitchen and dining area is check before giving the OK to open.

But the inspections don't stop there. Inspectors make surprise visits all week during the fair.

Food for Thought 9.20 Here is a complete list of the restaurants and their violations for the week ending on 9/20/07.

Now let's take a look at this week's Food for Thought.

Burger King at 2002 50th Street servers it up your way and with perfection.

And parents here's this week's list of top performing elementaries: Brown, Guadalupe, Harwell, Haynes, Martin and Stewart were flawless, and you can add Stubbs Headstart to that list as well.

Now the schools that each had one critical violation.

• At Rush Elementary inspectors found a dirty can opener.
• At Parkway Elementary an employee changed gloves without washing their hands in between.
• Cold food was above 41 degrees at Bowie, Wheelock and Williams Elementaries.

Now to the schools that had two critical violations a piece.

• An employee's uncovered drink was found at Hodges Elementary. Inspectors also found rodent bait that was not in a tamper proof container.
• At Wester Elementary, an employee's drink was not covered, and a can opener was soiled.
• At Smylie Wilson Middle School, pizza sitting out waiting to be cooked was 67 degrees. A thermometer inside a walk-in cooler was broken.

And finally the schools that each had three critical violations.

• At Hardwick Elementary, an employee's drink was found above food items. Several cans were rusted, and a can opener was dirty.
• At Mackenzie Middle School, cold foods were above 41 degrees. A bucket of sanitizer did not have a lid. And there was no thermometer in a reach-in cooler.

Furr's Cafeteria at 2801 50th Street had six critical violations.

• Several food items, including; raw fish, roast, cheese, broccoli, and cooked squash were all above 41 degrees.
• Soup was not at least 135 degrees.
• Several cans were dented.
• A container of salt was thrown out after a rusty dirty spoon was found inside the container.
• According to the report, an extremely large amount of rodent droppings were found in the dry storage area including, on top of bags of salt and breading.
• Shelves were extremely dirty in the dry storage area. Plastic bins for clean item storage were soiled. The outside of the flour, salt and sugar bins were also dirty.

The general manager tells us all violations have been corrected. The report shows most were corrected at the time of the inspection.