What's wrong with this picture?

March 1, 2022

These are actual photographs from different inspections in our county. Can you see what the problems are?

1. ↓ Can you find any issue with this kids menu?

2. ↓ Yikes! Here we have a sticky pest strip, complete with dead bugs in use in the kitchen. What are your thoughts on the location?

3. ↓ This is becoming a more common sight, unfortunately. Do you know why it is a potential problem?

4. ↓ What do you see here?

5. ↓ I had to throw in an easy one here.

Answers:

Photo #1 - It is a violation to offer raw or undercooked proteins (a beef burger in this case) on a children's menu.

Photo #2 - Pest strips can be used in your commercial kitchen just not hanging over food prep or cooking areas. This strip is hanging over the cookie prepping and plating area after they are cooked. The correction was to remove them from these food prep areas and placed in the garbage can area instead.

Photo #3

These professional foodservice towels are intended to be used in a sanitation bucket with sanitizer. They are not intended to be in direct contact with food.

This also applies to linen towels. Cloths that are intended to be used in sanitation buckets are washed in chemicals that are not food safe. As you see this cloth towel on top of greens is also not in complaince with the food sanitation rules.

I guess if you are really compelled to utilize them someway, you could use them as seen in the photo to the left. Fresh trout wrapped in plastic and then laid on top of the food service towels with no direct contact.

Before using the either styles of towels discussed, you need to contact the laundry service or manufacturer to get confirmation in writing that they are safe to use in direct contact with food.

Photo #4 - That is some raw soft-shelled crab over some prepped zucchini. The raw protein here is soft-shell crab with a kill step temperature of 145F for 15 seconds or more. Veggies have a kill step temperature of 135F for 15 seconds or more. The products were switched moving the crabs to the bottom shelf and raw zucchini above that.

Photo #5 - Blocked handwashing sink.