What’s wrong with this picture?

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

#1 ↓ There is a lot of things to look at in this picture. What stands out to you? Is there a violation here?

#2 ↓ The thermometer reading pretty much gives this one away.

#3 ↓ This is a convenient way to give customers access to as much salsa as they want, but is it safe?

#4 ↓ This looks like some yummy pancetta from a local caterer. Do you see any issues with it?

#5 ↓ This bucket of foil wrapped baked potatoes is from the previous night. What do you think?

Answers!

Photo #1 - With older facilities, a hand washing sink may be lacking where one would be now be required, so we ‘grandfather in’ the use of a three-compartment sink and designate one as a hand washing sink. You can see the sign, soap dispenser and roll of paper towels on the left. This violation would be inaccessible hand washing sink.

Photo #2 - This violation would be improper cold holding.

Photo #3 - Food on display (self-serve) is not protected from contamination and is a TCS requiring temperature control or be on a timing rule.

Photo #4 - There are a couple things that jump out here. First thing for me was the vacuum sealing in a food saver bag used by non-commercial use machines. Second was that there is no information about the producer of this product (other than the chef’s name which I blacked out). Thirdly, if the producing facility did not have a variance for vacuum sealing, then this product is required to have a date and time stamp as it cannot exceed 48 hours in a sealed bag without an approved variance. Upon checking, they did not have an approved variance from any Oregon governing agency. This product was cited as coming from an unapproved source and required discarding or removal from facility at inspection. There are strict and clear rules regarding vacuum packing, also known as Reduced Oxygen Packing (ROP).

Photo #5 - These baked potatoes were improperly cooled and must now be discarded. The proper way to cool these would be to remove them from foil, slice them in half and put on a sheet pan, single layer, for rapid cooling. The risk here is botulism.