Food for Thought: 6/13/19

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A new wing shop in Lubbock is has reopened after it was forced to close its kitchen and cleanup.

As KCBD NewsChannel 11′s Christy Hartin tells us, that’s just one of the low performers in this week’s edition of Food for Thought.

Wing Daddy’s at 7706 Milwaukee was temporarily shutdown by the health department after inspectors cited the facility for 17 violations.

• Cooked chicken was sitting next to the stove at 110 degrees. It must be kept over 135 degrees or cooled to 41 degrees or below.
• All chicken sauces were between 50-60 degrees. They must be 41 degrees or colder.
• Chicken was thawing in a box by the back door, and chicken was thawing in a sink at room temperature.
• Many ready-to-eat items did not have a date mark or were expired.
• Many of those items were stored in containers that were not correctly labeled.
• Bread was not stored at least six inches off the floor.
• There was standing, stagnant water at hand sinks, mop sinks and the three-compartment sink.
• Several instances of cross-contamination were observed.
• Employees were not changing gloves when switching tasks, and they were washing their hands for less than 5 seconds.
• Employees drinks did not have lids.
• Chemicals were stored with food items.
• Dishes were still wet when stacked. Dirty dishes were stored with clean dishes.
• Wet rags were not stored in sanitizer solution.
• The nozzle of a hose was in the mop sink.
• There were hole above the back door and the mop sink.
• The inspector notes, due to the number and the nature of the violations management did not show proper food safety knowledge.
• There was also no certified food manager certificate available.

Management tells us everything was quickly corrected and they were back open in less than 12 hours.

The deli and restaurant inside the United Supermarkets at 1701 50th had 13 violations.

• Raw eggs next to the stove were thrown out because they were above 41 degrees.
• Sliced vegetables were not covered.
• Sliced ham had an expired date mark, and cooked ground beef did not have a date mark.
• An ice scoop was on a dirty surface. The dishwasher was not sanitizing. There was build-up in the reach-in freezer.
• A reach-in freezer is damaged.
• The heating element above the food was dirty.
• The ice machine and the area under the microwave were dirty.
• Employees did not wash their hands when changing tasks.
• Stomach and cough medicines were near food items.
• Wet rags were not stored in sanitizer solution.
• Waste water was backing up from the drain onto the floor.
• The floor in the walk-in freezer was dirty.

The inspector notes, due to the number and the nature of the violations management did not show proper food safety knowledge.

The report shows the violations were corrected.

United says, “We are aware of a low score at our store at Ave. Q and 50th Street. Clearly, being on the list of low performers is a rare occurrence at our company and unacceptable in United’s long-held standard of superior performance. The store team passed the re-inspection the following day, and we implemented additional inspection practices and re-training to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

Now to the good news. Here’s a look at this week’s top performers:

• Toro Burger at 7706 Milwaukee
• Firehouse Subs at 5027 Milwaukee
• Str8 Up Nutrition at 2810 34th
• Blue Oasis (mobile unit)
• Cast Iron Grill (mobile unit)

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