Kitchen Nightmares: Rampant Health Violations on Federal Hill
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
It is known as the crown jewel of Rhode Island’s restaurant industry, but a review of Department of Health records shows inspectors have found dozens of violations at 13 establishments on Federal Hill since October 2010.
Several well-known restaurants were among the offenders during the 13 month time span, including Andino’s, the Blue Grotto and Cassarino’s, three of the oldest establishments on the Hill. At least five businesses were cited for not employing a full-time, on site manager certified in food safety – a cardinal rule within the industry.
Not every violation comes with the same degree of seriousness, of course. Inspectors separate their reports into two different sections: One is good retail practices; the more serious area breaks down potential “risk factors” that could result in foodborne illness.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to records, the 13 restaurants had a total of 23 “risk factor” violations.
Three Major Restaurants: 10 Risk Factor Violations
Andino’s, the Blue Grotto and Cassarino’s were responsible for more than one-third of the major “risk factor” violations; the inspections at Andino’s and Blue Grotto came last month while the inspection at Cassarino’s occurred in January.
A follow-up inspection from a September report at Andino’s showed three “risk factor” violations, including inadequate hand washing facilities, a slicer that wasn’t clean and stored, ready-to-eat food was not marked with the date of preparation. A month earlier, the restaurant was cited for not having a full-time certified manager and for not storing raw foods properly, among several other violations.
A foodborne illness complaint forced the Oct. 25 inspection of the Blue Grotto and the report showed it too had no full-time certified manager. In addition, the report noted that “raw animal foods were stored above ready-to-eat foods in the walk-in refrigerator (such as eggs). Raw animal foods must be separated from raw ready-to-eat food such as vegetables during storage.”
The January inspection of Cassarino’s again showed no certified on-site manager as well as bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and inadequate hand washing facilities. According to Health records, there was no follow-up inspection.
Calls to all three restaurants were not returned over the weekend.
Department of Health: Food Safety Managers are a Must
When inspecting a food establishment, inspectors look for five critical violations, which Department of Health spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth referred to as “the big five.” Those violations include: Hand washing; Cross contamination; Employees not wearing gloves when handling ready-to-eat food; Sick employees at work; and Proper storage.
Beardsworth said that restaurants are inspected when they open, when complaints are filed and on an unannounced basis. However, because there are just nine inspectors currently working for the state –two more will begin next month – it is often difficult to inspect every restaurant. Asked if inspections occur annually, Beardsworth said, “we do them as frequently as possible.”
Beardsworth acknowledged that it would be a “fair and accurate statement” to say the Health Department is understaffed, which underscores the importance of having a full-time on-site manager who is certified. She said even if there were a significant increase in the number of inspectors –which is unlikely- an on-site certified manager is essential.
“Food safety managers are the go-to people for the establishment,” she said.
State Senator: Violators Need to get a Slap
An increase in food safety awareness has come this year as a result of dozens of reported illnesses and one death that occurred following a salmonella outbreak involving zeppoles at DeFusco’s Bakery last March. At the time, State Senator John Tassoni called for more inspectors to be hired by the state, noting that the Health Department as a whole reported being down 106 workers from 2006.
Tassoni said he blames Governor Carcieri for the reduction of the workforce during his administration, but said the bottom line is more needs to be done to protect Rhode Islanders.
“I wish the state would hire more inspectors,” he said. “When I looked at this last year, if you did the math, it looked like a restaurant gets inspected once every five years. It’s deplorable.”
Tassoni said restaurants aren’t the only venues in need of inspections. He pointed to hair and nail salons that he believes could use more oversight as well. He said that repeat violators deserve to face some punishment.
“I’m not a fan of closing down businesses, but after so many warnings and so many inspections, they need to get a slap,” Tassoni said.
RI Hospitality Association: Certification is Critical
According to Dale J. Venturini, President and CEO of the RI Hospitality Association, restaurants with multiple violations in Rhode Island are the exception, not the rule. She said her organization works hard on an ongoing basis to ensure that restaurants and food service establishments in the state not only meet, but exceed safe food handling protocol.
“I am always disappointed when I hear about a restaurant or food service business which does not meet food safety guidelines,” she said. “But, Rhode Island is home to hundreds of world-class establishments, and I can confidently tell you that the vast majority of these businesses meet and exceed health requirements.”
Venturini noted that the organization has a full time and a few part-time staff members that work with their member restaurants to conduct food safety audits for a fee. While these audits do not allow restaurants to circumvent the state process, it allows them to be proactive in identifying potential weaknesses or areas of improvement.
Still, she noted that having certified employees is critical for the industry.
“Being certified and being up-to-date on certifications demonstrates a commitment to being a true hospitality professional, and these certifications are absolutely critical for workers to ensure that they are knowledgeable and informed on all food safety regulations,” Venturini said.
Restaurant Owner Surprised
Bob Bacon, who owns the Gregg’s Restaurant chain, also underscored the importance of having certified employees on staff. He credited the Health Department as being better than ever, but agreed that there just aren’t enough inspectors.
“While they are understaffed, I can say this is the best they’ve ever been,” Bacon said. “It used to be hit or miss with a lot of inspectors. Now they’re very well educated and they spend a lot of time working with restaurants. But [inspections] just aren’t frequent enough.”
Bacon said there have always been restaurants that cut corners or violate rules, but said they aren’t representative of the entire industry.
“The bottom line is no one has more to lose than the operator,” Bacon said.
But Bacon did express concern over any restaurant that doesn’t have a single manager who is food safety certified.
“If that is the case, I’m surprised they can even get their operating licenses,” he said.
UPDATE: Blue Grotto Owner Speaks UP
Blue Grotto owner Michael Danahy offered the following e-mailed statement to GoLocalProv:
"As the Blue Grotto’s owner, the health and wellbeing of our guests is paramount to our success. Therefore, I take any mention of food borne illness or Department of Health violations extremely seriously. As such, I have taken the following steps to ensure the continued health and safety or our employees and staff:
· I have contacted RI Hospitality Association to conduct an independent food safety inspection by their licensed, on-staff professional on Friday, November 18th.
· I have contacted the Department of Health to re-inspect our facilities as soon as possible.
· I am in the process of resolving the ServSafe paperwork mishap that resulted in the most serious violation by the DOH. We have multiple full-time staff who have been ServeSafe certified or recertified and I do not expect that issue/violation to arise again.
The Department of Health’s recent inspection was the result of a food borne illness complaint, and I am pleased to tell you that after our full cooperation into their investigation, no such illness was determined to have occurred. There were no significant violations found by the inspectors, and based on their visit there was no need for a re inspection. However, as previously mentioned, we have asked for a re inspection to ensure we are in full compliance. All on site violations noted previously have been corrected."
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