Ice machine mold and rodent droppings help a Miami-Dade Panera Bread fail inspection
Rodents and other problems caused a Homestead Panera Bread to be closed by inspection during the one time of the year a Homestead business wants to be more open than a grandparent’s arms — NASCAR weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The Panera at 2493 NE Ninth Ct. had the bad luck of its routine inspection coming on Friday combining with bad restaurant housekeeping that added up to 20 total violations, three of which were High Priority violations.
But there’s no question about the High Priority violation that caused this Panera to crash the way Kyle Larson did Sunday into the sand-filled barrels at the end of pit road.
▪ Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found...approximately 10 rodent droppings on the floor by the electrical panel located by the back door near the water heater and the mop sink.” The inspector noted, “There is no wall to separate panel area from the preparation area.”
▪ Even with rodents running around, there was cut melon uncovered on a walk-in cooler’s shelves.
▪ “Accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.”
▪ The ice scoop sitting directly on top of the ice machine counted as an “in-use ice scoop stored on a soiled surface between uses.”
READ MORE: No Big Gulps, Slurpees or hot dogs at this 7-Eleven after an inspector found rodent dung
▪ The bean corn salad and the sliced steak had been in a reach-in cooler for over 24 hours, yet were still well above the safety line of 41 degrees. Both got slammed with Stop Sales.
▪ “Ceiling/ceiling tiles/vents soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or mold-like substance.” Where? “Observed throughout the kitchen area.”
▪ All the equipment door handles in the kitchen were “soiled,” as were all the reach-in cooler shelves on the kitchen prep line.
▪ A case of to-go boxes were stored on a front counter floor.
Panera passed a callback inspection on Saturday to get back open.
