Croqueta and lettuce problems: Two Miami-Dade Vicky Bakery locations fail inspection
Well, at least he didn’t say anything about the coladas.
That’s where you’ve got to go if you’re looking for the bright side after state inspections failed by Vicky Bakery locations in Hialeah and the Palm Springs North section of Northwest Miami-Dade last week.
Retail bakeries aren’t counted as restaurants, which are inspected by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, but rather stores to be inspected by the Florida Department of Agriculture. Failing an Ag Department inspection doesn’t shut down an establishment automatically, although if enough parts get hit with Stop-Use Orders, management might decide it can’t or shouldn’t open for business.
READ MORE: Unsafe food and dirty slicers inside a Miami-Dade Publix that failed inspection
Inspector Simeon Carrero didn’t have to drop any Stop-Use Orders among the 53 violations he found at each location. But here’s what jumped out among what Inspector Carrero did find.
Vicky Bakery, 18600 NW 87th Ave., Northwest Miami-Dade
The saying that there’s “nothing dirtier than money” isn’t some philosophical argument for the barter economy and, in the food processing area, Carrero saw “employees handling money, credit cards and not washing hands while working with open foods.”
The processing area had a sandwich station cutting board “with soil build up” and “several pots , pans and baking trays with food residue or other debris.”
Back room area had a deli slicer “with old residue, not cleaned for over four hours.”
“Employees in open food service area with no hair restraint.”
Food either needs to be kept warmer than 135 degrees or under 41 degrees, or become bacteria beds. But Inspector Carrero “found several beef, chicken empanadas, ham croquetas, ham and cheese pastries at internal temperatures ranging from 98 degrees to 110 degrees when probed with a calibrated thermometer.” Workers were allowed to reheat the food to 165 degrees for 15 seconds.
In the backroom processing area, Carrero “observed several mixers, decoration coloring equipment, food containers and shelves and cooler shelves with soil and debris and some kind of mold build up.”
Also, “observed soil ceiling tiles, floors in cooler and freezer with soil and debris throughout establishment.”
Vicky Bakery, 2885 W. 68th St., Hialeah
On Aug. 17, Carrero went to another Vicky Bakery and found the same problem with food processing area “employees handling money, credit cards and touching their hair, face and not washing their hands while working with open foods.”
In the backroom, a “deli slicer, an orange juicer and an industrial can opener with old residue not cleaned for over four hours.”
The backroom processing area didn’t have paper towels at the handwashing sink.
Inside a cold holding unit, a sandwich had “lettuce spoiled-like and with brown color.”
That’s more visual, but not necessarily more dangerous, than media noche sandwiches at 47 to 50 degrees after being in a walk-in cooler for four hours or several trays of mini beef empanadas at an ambient temperature of 75 degrees to 76 degrees.
Carrero saw “several meat, chicken, spinach patties, ham croquetas, cheese pastries, cheese tequenos, prepared meat pastries with ham and cheese, meat-stuffed potatoes and ham and cheese currants on display for undetermined amount of time while doing inspection. Observed time display on window being adulterated in my presence and no product being discarded at the time they told me they were going to dispose the product. As per person in charge, two extra hours were added to product during the inspection.”
And that food was being handled by employees wearing nothing to keep their hair out of the food.
Several cutting boards in the processing area were “encrusted with soil buildup, pitted and scored that could no longer be effectively cleaned and sanitized.”
“Wiping cloths not kept in sanitizer.” That’s OK for home, not in a food service business.
The backroom processing area had “several mixers, coloring decoration equipment, food containers, shelves and cooler shelves with soil and debris throughout” along with “soiled ceiling tiles, floors in the cooler and freezer soiled with debris throughout the establishment.”
A processing area’s pans and baking trays had “food residue or other debris.”
