An inspector at a Miami Don Pan found bad croquetas and pastelitos, and mold on fruit
Bakeries in Miami shouldn’t have problem pastelitos or coffee equipment not washed and sanitized enough. Nobody should have mold on food.
Each of the above and more made the Aug. 30 state inspection report on the Don Pan at 9280 Bird Rd./SW 40th St., which received “Re-Inspection Required,” the lowest rating possible.
Here’s some of what Florida Department of Agriculture Inspector Julio Azpurua saw during his visit:
▪ In the backroom, “some oranges found with white, mold-like substances inside the box stored at the walk-in cooler.” With the white stuff came Stop Sales on the oranges.
▪ The kitchen could use a knife holder. “Multiple knives in use were wedged between the preparation reach-in cooler and the table with the food warmer.”
▪ “The ice scoop handle was stored in direct contact with the ice in the ice machine bin.”
▪ At the coffee machine, the “steam wand used for milk was not washed, rinsed, and sanitized after more than four hours of use.”
▪ No paper towels were at the backroom area handwash sink.
▪ The backroom’s walk-in cooler fan guards displayed a “heavy dust accumulation.”
▪ In the walk-in cooler, “multiple food items were not covered inside the walk-in cooler on top of the speed racks.”
▪ In the walk-in freezer, a “case of frozen baking goods was found stored under dripping water from a leaking condensing unit located inside the walk-in freezer.”
▪ The kitchen and food service employees “did not wash their hands prior to donning gloves and between entering/exiting the processing areas to handle food and clean utensils.”
▪ Also, “food employees wearing single-use gloves left the kitchen area to pick up ingredients in the walk-in freezer, then returned to cook in the fryer station, then handled food for customer orders without changing gloves...” That’s more than a single use.
▪ “Croissants used to make sandwiches were stored in store shopping T-bags,” which are not food-grade bags.
READ MORE: Bugs and mold ruin food at a Fort Lauderdale area Winn-Dixie
▪ A monsoon of Stop Sales washed over the food service area as Don Pan staff didn’t observe the time or temperature constraints of proper food safety.
▪ Milk and creamers in a cooler measured 47 to 50 degrees. Raw bacon, sliced ham, sliced cheese, soups and shredded white cheese in hte kitchen’s sandwich cold unit measured 45 to 53 degrees. A display cooler held “gallons of milk” and portioned green sauce that measured 52 to 54 degrees. All needed to be at or under 41 degrees and were tossed.
▪ Bread with cheese wasn’t “marked or identified with the time” and had been out of temperature control for more than four hours. Ham cachitos, various corn empanadas, pan de bono, cheese tequenos, quava and cheese tequenos, ham croquetas and pastelitos came out at 7 a.m. and were still out at 11:45 a.m. All of the above got tossed, too.
READ MORE: Unsafe croquetas, pastelitos at a Miami area Karla Bakery
▪ Back to the backroom, where a slicer on a shelf under a prep table featured “old food residue on the plate, blade guard and handle.”
▪ The staff also was using “spray lubricant not intended for food contact surface ... as a lubricant for stand mixer attachment point, as per the manager.”
▪ Wet wiping cloths, which are supposed to be in sanitizing solution when between wipes, instead sat on a kitchen prep table next to food.
▪ A kitchen reach-in cooler’s gasket showed an “accumulation of food residue and mold-like substance.”
▪ Restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries and food processing centers should have something that prevents backflow through the drains if there’s a sewage malfunction.
▪ Don Pan’s “backflow device in the kitchen mop sink is in disrepair.” That’s better than the one missing outside.
