Cockroach infestation among red flags that closed Fresno County food places in December
A banquet and catering kitchen, a grocery store’s food counter and a community center’s kitchen all were temporarily closed last month after Fresno County inspectors discovered various health violations.
A Dec. 6 inspection at Amigos Food Market at Church and Cedar avenues in southeast Fresno revealed a lack of hot water at a handwash sink and at a three-compartment sink at the store’s hot-food counter. The food area was ordered closed, but allowed to reopen the next day after the problem was fixed.
A lack of hot water is one of the most common violations inspectors from the Fresno County Department of Public Health find when they make their routine visits to restaurants. But different problems were found when inspectors visited two other kitchens later in the month.
At the North Point Event Center on West Avenue near Ashlan Avenue in northwest Fresno, a cockroach infestation prompted the closure of the catering company and banquet hall after an inspection on Dec. 8. The banquet hall, which shares its building with the Curry House Indian Bistro & Bar, was closed for almost two weeks before it was allowed to reopen on Dec. 20.
In Selma, a Dec. 21 inspection at the Selma SMART Center revealed a vermin infestation. The center at the Sal M. Salazar Park at the city’s southern edge was closed to allow for the problem to be solved, and it was allowed to reopen the next day.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health has about two dozen environmental health specialists who monitor more than 5,300 restaurants, snack bars, grocery stores, commissaries, delicatessens and food vendors across the county, making unannounced visits several times a year.
Restaurants also are inspected in response to complaints or other concerns from the public, including when people see what they believe are health or sanitation issues at restaurants.
Some of the county’s inspectors also are responsible for checking other facilities such as tattoo or body art parlors, public swimming pools and other sites.
Inspectors run through a checklist of more than 50 issues when they visit a restaurant or food-service site.
Usually, if an inspector finds a problem, it’s the kind of thing that can be quickly remedied without a closure order – things such as having enough bleach in the water used to wipe down food-preparation counters, replacing lids on food containers in the walk-in refrigerator, resupplying paper towels in the restrooms or reminding employees to wear gloves or hairnets and to wash their hands.
But other things that represent an immediate danger to health and safety will trigger a closure until the problem can be solved. Those can include a lack of hot water for washing dishes or hands; infestations of rodents, cockroaches or other insects; refrigerators that don’t keep cold food cold enough and steam tables that don’t keep food hot enough to inhibit bacteria; or plumbing problems including backed-up drains and toilets.
Fresno County makes its restaurant inspection reports publicly available at fresnohealthinspections.org, but some of the more recent inspection reports have yet to appear on the site.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 11:19 AM.
