Dead flies in the shrimp display case and slime in ice machines: bad grocer inspections
Despite lacking the usual vermin problems (for the most part), eight South Florida food sellers still managed to fail inspections and make our Gross Grocers list.
What follows comes from Florida Department of Agriculture inspections of supermarkets, bodegas, convenience stores, food distributors, food processors and food storage facilities. If you see a problem in such a place, don’t email us. Click here and file a complaint. We don’t control who gets inspected or how strictly. We report without passion or prejudice, but with a shopping cart of humor.
We’re going to try to make this a weekly thing, like our Sick and Shut Down List of restaurant inspection failures that publishes on Mondays or Tuesdays, except these will publish on Fridays or Saturdays.
And we go in alphabetical order:
Canaan Trading Company, 11245 NW 131st St., Medley: This “major food distributor” (as classified by the Dept. of Agriculture) is this week’s Tippi Hedren-Bodega Bay Award winner. “In the section of dry storage, where food products are stored, several live birds on metal beams of high ceiling.”
And then there’s this:
“Plastic curtains located at entrance door of the freezer, as well as, at the entrance door of the walk-in cooler, with green mold-like stains and damaged.”
Copans Service Station, 1231 W. Copans Rd., Pompano Beach: You know how you see stuff like empanadas in a gas station warmer and wonder if they’re still good?
These weren’t. The empanadas were well below temperature. Basura.
That’s why that table top hot unit and a similarly poorly functioning deli service cooler and a walk-in coolers got hit with Stop Use orders.
Have a Coke and smile? Or have a Coke and some slime? “Slime and mold like substance found on exterior surface of ice chute to soda machine. Dust and dirt accumulation on drink sliders in reach in coolers by front door.”
There was no hot water at three-compartment sink or the handwash sink at the beginning of the inspection.
But there was plenty of dust. “Dirt, dust and food debris accumulated on the floor under the prep tables and by the stove.” In the back room, “dirt, dust and trash accumulated on floors under the three-compartment sink, under storage racks and behind the freezer. Dust on fan guards inside the walk-in coolers.”
In the retail area, “product spillage and crumbs found on shelving under drink machines.”
El Indio Bakery & Catering, 4164 E. Fourth Ave., Hialeah: Hard to wash your hands when there’s no soap or paper towels by the processing area hand sink.
The slicer machine, can opener, fryer and stove all got described as having “a build up of old, dry product residue.”
What was surprising about “processing area and rear wear washing area with excessive holes and cracks on walls” was that it wasn’t the lead-in to the inspector finding evidence of rodents.
Exxon, 1201 Royal Palm Beach Blvd., Royal Palm Beach: “Ice chute has black and pink slime accumulation inside.”
Doesn’t sound like there’s much cleaning going on there, especially because that sounds like the type of thing that would be deconstructed and cleaned in the three-compartment sink. And, in the backroom...
“...three-compartment sink blocked by stacks of drinks and other food products. Basins of three-compartment sink have flaky build-up inside. Basins of three-compartment sink blocked by single-use cups and drinks.”
Sounds about as low use as The Mall at 163rd Street, especially when you consider there was no hot water to that sink or the handwashing sinks in the back room, retail area or restrooms. Stop Use Orders hit.
The milk products in the reach-in cooler measured 72 degrees. Room temperature milk. That’ll rest well in your stomach until it decides to return from whence it came.
The beef and chicken Jamaican patties in the hot case weren’t hot enough by almost 30 degrees. Tossed.
Not so much dirty, as sloppy: “Ingestible hemp products in case by register are missing source information, scannable codes linked to certificate of analysis, batch numbers and percentage of THC.”
New York Mart, 10065 Sunset Strip, Sunrise: “The shelves by the kimchi, oyster sauce and frozen shrimp are not clean. There are a large amounts of dead flies in the frozen shrimp display case.”
“Several varieties of frozen meat and fish balls were on display in open plastic bags without sneeze guards or protection from any other potential contamination.” Those got hit with a Stop Sale.
The inspector also saw “uncovered chicken wings and ox tails in the reach in meat display freezer.”
Want leftovers? “The meat saw had old encrusted buildup of food particles inside the upper meat saw container.”
Pinecrest Bakery, 1144 SW 67th Ave., West Miami-Dade: This place looked as if “baking” and “washing” were mutually exclusive actions.
Among the many employees leaving the food processing area and returning to work without washing their hands, there was one who “picked up dirty utensils, placed them inside the three-compartment sink and continued to work without washing his hands first.”
Then again, there was no soap at the hand sink by the deli and fryer in the processing area. The hand sink by the three-compartment sink was being used for utensil storage.
In the processing area, the slicer machine was “dirty with evidences of old dry products, residues and grease.” The same was noted about a mixer, three cutting boards and three tables (add “mold and dirt” for the tables).
“(Sobadora) moulder machine with old dirt, cob webs, product residue.”
Utensils stored as clean had “evidence of old grease and dry products residue.”
“Ready to eat fresh oranges not thoroughly washed in potable water before used in juice machine for ready-to-drink orange juice.”
Inside the three-compartment sink, where you’re supposed to wash and sanitize cookware, the inspector found it to be “excessively dirty inside with a build up of mold, grease and dirt.” How does that happen if it’s actually being used and cleaned once in a while?
“Observed dirty fixtures inside restroom facility” in the backroom.
“Food containers not properly covered inside walk-in cooler and processing deli reach-in cooler.”
Shell, 5980 Okeechobee Rd., West Palm Beach: When inspector Janet Crisostomo dropped by on Dec. 30, she dropped Stop Use orders on all the food processing equipment because there wasn’t a handwash sink in the ware washing room.
Inspector Crisostomo came back Tuesday. Still no handwash sink. They can’t wash their hands, they can’t play with their food processing equipment.
Tequeno Sabor, 13816 SW 142nd Ave., Southwest Miami-Dade: They made this list last summer when the inspector spotted several no-nos in tequeno assembly.
This time, they failed at good old fashioned cleanliness.
“Utensils and equipment not being sanitized as sanitizing solution dispenser is in disrepair.”
“Food residue encrusted on the handle and on the inside part of door of the two-door reach-in cooler.” And inside that cooler, “shelves where ready-to-eat white cheese is stored, with excessive rust accumulation and food residue encrusted.”
In the walk-in freezer, “fan guards with excessive dust accumulation.”
We respect that, sometimes, you’re just trying to keep it together. But, you’re taking it too far with “both chest freezer lids damaged, as duct tape is being used to keep the insulation from falling apart.”
Major grocery sellers whose stores passed inspection
Because there’s interest in the larger chains, we’ll tell you each week which ones had stores inspected, pass or fail, with hyperlinks to the inspection so you can check them out for yourself.
Dollar Tree: 8651 Coral Way, West Miami-Dade.
Family Dollar: 2900 Broadway, Riviera Beach.
Publix: 13860 Jog Rd., Delray Beach; 6627 Boynton Beach Blvd, Boynton Beach; 2895 Military Trail, West Palm Beach.
Sam’s Club: 8425 NW 13th Terr., Doral
Sedano’s: 17171 Pines Blvs., Pembroke Pines
Costco, Dollar General, Fresh Market, Presidente, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Whole Foods and Winn-Dixie did not have a South Florida store inspected.
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 8:46 AM.
