Unclean, unsanitized equipment and unsafe food in a Miami-Dade Publix’s sushi area
While not quite declaring a Miami-Dade Publix’s offerings as gas station sushi, a state inspector did declare shrimp, chicken, a “premium” sampler and some rolls unfit for consumption and noted slipshod cleaning and sanitizing.
Florida Department of Agriculture Inspector Julio Azpurua listed these shortcomings in a different inspection than his check of the rest of the Cutler Bay Publix at 20951 Old Cutler Rd. Los Angeles area-based Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise aka AFC Franchise handles the sushi area at this Publix.
This and many other Publixes, according to the store locator on AFC’s website and a search of Ag Department inspections. Just in the 10-mile radius around the 20951 Old Cutler Rd. Publix, AFC claims business at 23, including the one just a half-mile walk north.
“Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp. is the largest North American franchisor of supermarket-based food service counter concept” the website declares. “Our food service counters feature sushi and/or other delicious Asian cuisine. In addition to supermarkets, we can also be found in other industry segments, such as military commissaries, university campus food courts, corporate office food courts, among others.”
What Inspector Azpurua found didn’t live up to that.
▪ Food service area “Utensils, cutting boards, rice containers and knives in use since 10 a.m. have not been washed, rinsed, and sanitized at 2:45 p.m.” This is supposed to happen every four hours of use.
▪ In the backroom, an “employee washed and rinsed containers, utensils, and trays at the warewash sink, but did not sanitize them after cleaning.”
▪ Also, the drainboards “weren’t large enough to accommodate all soiled and cleaned items accumulated during hours of operation.”
▪ The real problem was the food service area retail cooler and reach-in cooler, the latter of which had an ambient temperature of 45 to 47 degrees, a major shortcoming for a unit expected to keep food at or below 41 degrees.
From those two coolers, cooked shrimp, grilled chicken, orange chicken, salmon rolls, a tuna and salmon roll and the “Premium Chef Sampler No. 1” got hit with Stop Sales for being unsafely warm. All got trashed.
▪ In the rest of the store, cut watermelon in the produce walk-in cooler got hit with a Stop Sale for the same reason.
▪ Also, bakery area sanitizing solution had no sanitizer.
This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
