Rodents on the shelves at a Navarro, sewage backups, unsafe food: Gross Grocers
The idea of rodents being on shelves, chewing away at stuff you might grab and throw in your cart to take home to feed to your loved ones is...unsettling, wouldn’t you say?
That violation popped up a couple of times in this edition of Gross Grocers.
Also, if food’s being kept in a cooler, it should be kept under 41 degrees. If it’s cooked and being kept in hot storage, it should be kept at 135 degrees, especially if it contains something that once had parents. Anything in between invites you to the bathroom for a toilet filling out of one end or the other.
Now the rules: Unlike Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspections of restaurants, failing doesn’t mean a store gets closed until it passes. But parts of the store can be put under a Stop Use order until the problem gets properly addressed. Obviously, if a place gets enough Stop Use orders, it might not have enough parts it can use to make opening worthwhile.
What follows comes from Florida Department of Agriculture inspection of groceries, supermarkets, minimarts, convenience stores, food storage, food distribution and food processing facilities in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. If want a place inspected or want to report a problem, don’t email us. Go to the Department of Agriculture website and file a complaint.
We don’t decide who gets inspected or how strictly they get inspected. We report without passion or prejudice, but with a loaf of humor.
Artesano Cafe & Market Place, 6 S. Federal Hwy., Dania Beach: Most of their problems seemed to be in the kitchen, where Inspector Tatiana Hughes saw an employee “touching/slicing ham with bare hands and touching sandwich wrap with bare hands” while prepping food.
The deli slicer had dried food on the blade, knife cover and sharpener assembly. A scoop with no handle — which means you’re going in with your hands to get it — waded in the chicken salad.
Out in the cafe area, the coolers had all the cool of parachute pants, so macaroni salad, roasted zucchini, cheeses, sausage links, cut melons, a gallon of milk and half and half all got tossed for being too warm for good food safety.
This was on Dec. 1. Artesano’s re-inspection hadn’t posted as of Thursday afternoon.
K&M Drugs, 364 S. Main St., Belle Glade: This place has been operating without a 2020 permit, an approved source of water or an approved sewage system.
Latinos Meat Market, 1718 W. Hillsboro Rd., Deerfield Beach: They were selling chimichurri in glass jars at room temperature and self-serve packaged cookies from “an unpermitted manufacturer.” That usually means somebody made it at home where who knows what how cleanliness situation stands?
The meat department’s three-compartment sink is directly plumbed, so if there’s any kind of backup, hoo, boy, all the incense in South Beach wouldn’t keep the place from smelling like a Port-O-Let late in the tailgate.
Mobil, 1205 W. 49th St., Hialeah: You ever look at food in a gas station convenience store, wonder how long it’s been there, how warm it is and whether it would you’d survive the chewing, the swallow or the digestion?
We thought of that when we saw the unsafely tepid temperatures at which Inspector Simeon Carrero found ham croquettes, chicken, beef and spinach empanadas and stuffed potatoes, cheese, ham and cheese and chorizo cachitos breads. All of them got tossed.
A dirty deli slicer and employees working with food and without hair nets don’t help anybody feel better.
This Mobil passed re-inspection Tuesday.
Navarro Pharmacy, 4410 16th Ave., Hialeah: “No soap provided for the men’s and women’s restroom.”
That didn’t seem like such a big deal compared with, on the the grocery shelves, “...multiple bags of pet food with evidence of being gnawed.”
They got tossed while Inspector Jose Pavon saw in the back area “multiple rodent excreta along walls, floors, and under racks where food is stored.”
And, of course, in that back area, “multiple food condiments stored on the floor located by the office.”
A Stop Use Order was put on the back room storage and receiving area on Friday. It was lifted on Tuesday.
Primor Bakery, 9160 NW 122nd St., Hialeah Gardens: Inspector Jose Pavon saw “multiple employees changing tasks, but not washing hands while working with open foods.”
Raw eggs stored at room temperature. House made flan and rice pudding without any dates on them. Ham croquettes, which should be kept at 135 degrees, sitting there at 80 to 100 degrees in a (not-so) hot box, just waiting to be eaten and refunded.
Primor passed re-inspection on Tuesday.
Tortilla Taqueria, 1581 N. State Rd. 7, North Lauderdale: When “live roach observed on floor under raw meat display cooler” doesn’t make the podium for inspection problems, you’re talking championship quality gross here.
Taking the bronze medal, we have in the meat processing area, “sewage from the hand wash sink backs up onto the floor through the drain behind the meat display cooler.”
The silver medalist, in a finish that required a long, judges review, “Heavy accumulation of dead roaches, dirt, dust and food debris on the floor around the candy display corner, in front of the meat display coolers, around and behind reach-in display coolers and in retail aisles.”
Coming home with the gold medal was, “accumulation of apparent rodent excrement, dead roaches, dirt and dust on retail food shelves storing canned food items, pasta, beverages and candy.”
Up the track, we find “numerous flying insects around utensil storage area, oven, sandwich prep cooler and tortilla machine.”
The meat display cooler and the entire meat processing area got hit with Stop Use Orders on Tuesday. Thursday, the latter order got lifted while the other remained.
Yeles Bakery, 6440 NW 186th St., North Miami-Dade: The back room here sounds like the basement at your grandparents house with erratic lighting and strange sounds. In fact, one of the violations noted the lights in the walk-in coolers and freezer were uncovered.
Also uncovered in the back room walk-in cooler was a rack with ready-to-eat cakes, breads and pastries. They were “under dusty vents, subject to contamination.”
The inspector also described the wall floors, cooler, freezer doors and gaskets as being “soiled” and having mold-like material.
Out in the food service area, the ice machine got cleaned after the inspector saw soil build up in the ice.
And, in the food processing area, deli ham, tuna salad and roasted pork weren’t even close to the 41 degrees they needed to be for good keeping. They got tossed.
