Bugs in rice at a Presidente, dirty slicers at a Milam’s among Miami’s Gross Grocers
A Milam’s Market had to toss out enough salad to keep Coral Gables regular until Thanksgiving. A Presidente had a bird problem. Avoid the food warmer food at a 7-Eleven.
Welcome to the most recent list of Gross Grocers, Miami-Dade grocers and supermarkets that failed inspection over the last three weeks.
HOW WE DO THINGS HERE: 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 supermarkets and food distributors in Miami-Dade. If you 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 really don’t. We report without passion or prejudice, but with humor on BOGO.
In alphabetical order:
La Cuadra, 540 Brickell Key, Miami: You’d expect better from the convenience store in the Brickell Key II condominium (well, if you didn’t, we did).
“Spatula stored on a wall above the prep table found with old food residue.”
The chlorine sanitizer in the sanitizing compartment of the ware washing sink was under 25 parts per million, which is better than 0 parts per million, but well below the 50 that Inspector James Zheng wanted to see.
The prepackaged flan, tres leches and jello-like gelatin didn’t have any labeling. The quatro leches didn’t have any ingredients on its labeling. That’s a no-no.
Thrown out of the hot box (and by “hot box,” we mean “room temperature and broken refrigerator”): Venezuelan beef empanadas, beef, chicken. Meanwhile, in the “cold” unit, not cold enough were a ham and cheese croissant, ham and cheese Cuban sandwich, salami and a ham and cheese sandwich. Also too warm for safe serving were an open pack of deli ham in the sandwich preparation cold unit, a gallon of milk and raw bacon.
There was a bag of diced ham open without a date. Nobody knew how long it had been open.
“Water leading from line of sandwich display cold unit and pooling on the floor in the food service area.”
Milam’s Market, 5767 Bird Rd., West Miami-Dade: Inspector James Zheng saw many things that make you go “Ew,” including a kitchen worker “dipping spatula into quarternary ammonium sanitizer solution and, then, immediately using spatula to stir container of black beans without first letting the spatula completely air dry before use.”
There wasn’t a handwashing sink in the meat walk-in cooler where there’s a large floor meat grinder. They’ve got until Nov. 24 to put in a handwashing sink with running water — cold AND hot — or face a Stop Use Order on the the large floor grinder and all food processing in the walk-in.
In the deli, the prep table slicers were sanitized, but “not properly cleaned” after more than four hours of use.
In the meat area, the “recently cleaned” meat slicer on the prep table was “found with food residue on the back of the blade and blade guard. Meat cuber blades and blade guard stored on tray in the meat walk-in cooler found with old, yellow food residue in between the blades. Large floor grinder located in the meat walk-in cooler found with food residue on rotating arms.”
Tossed for being too warm despite being in the walk-in cooler: a container of Ever Roast chicken salad; feta cheese; tuna salad; Greek salad; chickpea salad; Greek feta salad; pesto pasta; honey pecan salad; chicken salad; and caprese salad.
In the also-not-working-well deli hot storage were not warm plantains and potato wedges. Thrown out from the retail open air cooler for being too warm were shredded iceberg lettuce; tricolor coleslaw; veggie lovers salad; sweet butter salad; sweet ‘n’ crunchy salad; hearts of romaine salad; American salad, 50/50 salad mix and Italian salad; tuna salad on greens, chicken bacon Cobb salad, Asian chicken salad and spinach with chicken salad.
Presidente Supermarket, 9875 SW 40th St., West Miami-Dade: Wednesday, Inspector Yuko Kim saw a “food employee enter the meat processing area and began working with exposed foods without first washing hands.”
Kim also spotted, “Rice insects inside packages of Lafe Long Grain Rice and El Sembrador Rice stored on shelf in the rice aisle.”
Does employee orientation skip the whole “wash your stuff daily” thing? “Meat tenderizer on the prep table used yesterday found with dry food residue on the blades next to the ware washing sink.” And, the “meat grinder next to the wrapper machine used yesterday found with dry food residue inside of the grinder.”
Shoppers with a Tippi Hedren Complex, beware: “Multiple live birds found flying across all retail aisle and sitting on top of merchandise on the upper shelves.”
The meat display cold unit had no chill. Or, not enough to keep chicken drum sticks, chicken skinless drum sticks, chicken hearts and chicken livers from being tossed out for being warm enough to be chicken farms of bacteria.
Packages of bean sprouts on produce retail shelf, multiple items on storage shelf, “various cheese and ham items were voluntarily discarded by food employee during inspection.”
Semi-soft white cheese and farmer’s cheese, supposed to be date marked for seven days, date marked for 31 days.
“Meat processing room found in disrepair with an ambient temperature between 41 to 46 degrees, unable to maintain temperature dependent foods at 41 degrees or below.”
In the ice cream walk-in freezer and in the meat processing area, “mold-like residues on the walls and ceilings.”
In the restroom, there was no cold water at the handwashing sink.
7-Eleven, 13795 SW 88th St., South Miami-Dade: In the women’s restroom, the hand drying blower was broken and there were no paper towels.
To the surprise of no one who has ever looked at the food in a 7-Eleven’s hot units, the Buffalo chicken wings, roasted chicken wings, honey boneless wings weren’t kept warm enough to keep the bacteria away. Over at the the self-serve toppings bar, the salsa and pico de gallo weren’t kept cool enough. The coffee creamer had the same problem.
There was whole milk in the dispensing unit that had been open 15 days. That might work in your home refrigerator, not in a retail establishment.
