Handwashing and other issues lead to Miami bakery’s failed state inspection
Handwashing and knife storage problems dotted the inspection of a Miami bakery that came back “Re-Inspection Required.”
Little Havana’s Rico Bakery, 425 SW 22nd Ave., got that rating, the lowest possible from a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspection, after Inspector Margaret Alvarez dropped by Monday. Rico’s re-inspection, which usually occurs 14 days later, likely will be Sept. 2.
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Rico’s remains open.
Restaurants can be shut down for a failed inspection, done by a different agency. But that’s not the case with Agriculture Department inspections of grocers, bakeries, food storage and food processors. Inspectors can put Stop Use Orders on equipment and areas of the establishment.
Alvarez didn’t need to drop any Stop Use Order’s Monday at Rico’s. Here’s what she did cite:
In the food service and kitchen areas, “food employees did not wash hands between entering and exiting food preparation areas and prior to donning gloves to handle food items.”
If they had wanted to wash their hands, the food service area handwash sink didn’t have any soap.
In the kitchen, the handwash sink was blocked by the trash bin. The one in the decorating room was blocked by a prep table.
Also in the kitchen, “clean knives were wedged between cold units, and wedged between cutting boards and preparation tables.” The now-unclean knives were washed, rinsed and sanitized.
At the coffee machine, “heavy, dried-on milk accumulated on the steam wand in use after more than 4 hours without being cleaned.”
“No probe thermometer available in the food establishment to assess cooking, cooling, reheating, hot and cold holding temperatures throughout the establishment.” That’s necessary to make sure food in cold storage remains at or under 41 degrees and food in hot holding remains at or over 135 degrees.
The inspector noted a “visible gap at the rear exit door, not effectively protecting against the entry of pests.”
