03.dec.06
Martin Independent Journal - California
Richard Halstead
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_4764348
Sometimes health problems at food facilities literally jump out at county inspectors.
That was the case in October, when the environmental health department forced Don's Market at 1589 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Fairfax to close for a week due to an infestation of rats.
David Smail, director of the county's food safety program, was quoted as asying,"There was a live rat running through the store. There were droppings all over the place. There was adulterated food, meaning they'd chewed, and there was overwhelming odor."
The market's owner, Danny Singh, said the rats entered through holes in the building. Singh said he asked his landlord, Sang Kim, who lives in the Los Angeles area, to fix the holes a month ago, but the work remains undone.
When contacted last week, Ben Kim of San Rafael, who manages the property for Sang Kim, said he had never been notified of any holes in the building. He said Singh attracted the rats by failing to keep the market clean.
Of the 17 Marin restaurants that required multiple food safety inspections over the past year, six had problems with vermin of one sort or another. In one eatery it was cockroaches, in two others it was rodents, and in three more it was flies. In none of these cases was the problem serious enough to require closure.
A failure to keep foods either hot enough or cold enough to prevent the rapid growth of disease-causing bacteria was the violation most often cited in the inspection reports on the restaurants.
The county health department advises food-serving facilities that they must be careful about how they cool foods after cooking and reheat them after refrigeration. If the food is cooled or reheated too slowly, it can provide a temperature suitable for bacterial growth. The range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit is considered the danger zone.