{"id":52207,"date":"2024-12-02T18:58:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T23:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=52207"},"modified":"2024-12-02T19:00:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T00:00:14","slug":"lakeland-county-food-vendors-fell-short-of-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/12\/02\/lakeland-county-food-vendors-fell-short-of-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland County food vendors fell short of standards"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"6e7a33\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"364\" height=\"138\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/images-2.webp?resize=364%2C138&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52208 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #6e7a33; width:707px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/images-2.webp?w=364&amp;ssl=1 364w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/images-2.webp?resize=300%2C114&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/egg-station\/sea6308092\/7219607\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Egg Station<\/a>\u00a0(Bartoletti LLC)<\/strong>, 1625 Shepherd Road, Lakeland: On Nov. 13, the restaurant had 17 violations, including four high priority. Those were for an employee washing hands without soap, a missing vacuum breaker at the mop sink faucet, a bottle of ibuprofen improperly stored next to a microwave on a shelf above the salad flip-top, and an employee handling toast with her bare hands instead of tongs or gloves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were two intermediate violations: one for an employee washing his hands at the three-compartment sink (instead of the handwash sink), and another for failing to provide proof of required employee training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other 11 violations were basic: The current Hotel and Restaurant license wasn\u2019t displayed; an employee was drinking from an unenclosed beverage in a food-prep or clean dishware area; an employee with no hair restraint was preparing food; a faucet\/handle was missing at the mop sink; food was stored on the floor in the walk-in freezer; an in-use knife was stored in a crack between the reach-in cooler and steam table; in-use tongs were stored on an oven handle; an in-use utensil wasn\u2019t stored with the handle above the top of the food; no mop sink or curbed cleaning facility was provided inside; the exterior of the cooking equipment was soiled with grease or food debris; and a back door was propped open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/uncle-nicks-bagels-and-subs\/sea6303965\/7660142\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Uncle Nicks Bagels and Subs<\/a><\/strong>, 6955 Old Highway 37, Lakeland: On Nov. 13, the restaurant had nine violations. Three were intermediate: a cutting board soiled with debris; a handwash sink blocked by a cooling rack; and no proof of required employee training.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other six violations were basic:&nbsp; a bathroom door left open other than for cleaning or maintenance; torn gaskets on a reach-in cooler; no handwashing signs at any handwash sinks used by employees; a soiled gasket on a reach-in cooler; single-serve forks, knives and spoons not stored so that only handles are touched; bulk containers in the bakery were unlabeled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/china-garden\/sea6308061\/5346980\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">China Garden<\/a><\/strong>, 1527 Bartow Road, Lakeland: On Nov. 12, the restaurant had seven violations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was one high-priority violation: chicken pieces stored in non-food-grade bags in the freezer. And it received one intermediate: no proof of required employee training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were five basic violations: a container of potato starch had a scoop with no handle; an employee with no hair restraint was preparing food; buckets of food and a bag of ice were stored on the floor; in-use knives were stored in cracks between a cooler and a prep table; and to-go containers were stored on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/mitchells-coffee-house\/sea6306477\/9203127\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Mitchell&#8217;s Coffee House<\/a><\/strong>, 235 N. Kentucky Ave., Lakeland: On Nov. 12, the coffee shop had six violations, including two high priority. Those were for cold-held eggs, butter and hash browns lacking time markings and a toxic substance improperly stored (in this case, warmer fuel stored over a box of coconut).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two intermediate violations were for a soiled slicer and the person in charge lacking proof of food-manager certification. And there were two basic violations: a bowl or other container with no handle used to dispense food (a plastic cup in coconut); and shelving in the walk-in freezer was not 6 inches off the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sept. 30 to Oct. 20:<\/strong>5 Polk County restaurants fell short of standards. There was a common theme<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/spice-thai-sushi\/sea6305731\/5952839\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Spice Thai Sushi<\/a><\/strong>, 3895 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland: On Nov. 13, the restaurant had six violations, one of which was high priority. That was for using non-food-grade paper to line spring rolls in a flip-top cooler.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other five were basic violations: a mold-like substance inside the ice machine; a case of eggs stored on the floor in the walk-in cooler; broccoli, bok choy and tomatoes stored outside; all reach-in cooler gaskets were soiled with black buildup; and walk-in cooler shelves were soiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Nov. 14, the restaurant met standards in a follow-up inspection with two basic violations remaining \u2013 the soiled gaskets and the soiled ice machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/china-taste-take-out-restaurant\/sea6307813\/3859315\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">China Taste Take-Out Restaurant<\/a><\/strong>, 7880 Lake Wilson Road, Davenport: On Nov. 7, the restaurant had six violations. One was intermediate: Required employee training was expired for all employees. The other five were basic: a buildup of food debris on equipment door handles; cardboard used to line food-contact shelves in a freezer; jugs of oil stored on the floor on the cook line and sauce in the walk-in cooler; in-use tongs stored on equipment door handle between uses; and rust on the shelves in the walk-in cooler\/freezer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/metro-diner\/sea6307671\/9202662\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Metro Diner<\/a><\/strong>, 5293 Florida Ave. S., Lakeland: On Nov. 14, the restaurant had five violations, two of them high priority. One of those was for operating without a license. The other was for several foods \u201ccold held\u201d at greater than 41 degrees, including sausage (45F), pulled pork (45F), shredded cheese (44F), hamburger patties (46F), meatloaf (45F) and steak (45F).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were two intermediate violations: An employee was washing a slicer at the two-compartment prep sink, and the wash solution in a hot-water sanitizing dish machine wasn\u2019t reaching the proper temperature of 140 degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lone basic violation was for pans on a shelf that wasn\u2019t properly air-dried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Nov. 15 follow-up, the restaurant met standards with zero violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/la-gran-muralla-restaurant-lounge\/sea6308629\/8906982\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">La Gran Muralla Restaurant &amp; Lounge<\/a><\/strong>, 2810 Lakeland Highlands Road, Lakeland: On Nov. 7, the restaurant had five violations, including one high priority. That was for a nonexempt fish offered raw or undercooked without proper parasite destruction. One intermediate violation was for offering raw or undercooked animal food without a written consumer advisory. Finally, there were three basic violations: several open bottles of water and a grape soda were on prep tables in the kitchen, an ice scoop handle was in contact with ice in the bar area, and a light on the hood system wasn\u2019t functioning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a follow-up inspection on Nov. 13, two violations remained: the basic one for the hood light, and the high-priority one for the raw or undercooked fish. An administrative complaint was recommended and another follow-up ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/dairy-queen\/sea6308500\/7166515\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Dairy Queen<\/a><\/strong>, 5239 U.S. 98 S., Lakeland: On Nov. 8, the restaurant had five violations, including two intermediate. Those were both clerical in nature: no written procedures for employees to follow in a vomiting or diarrheal event, and no proof of required employee training.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were three basic violations: a case of whipped dessert topping stored on the floor in a cooler and a case of cookie dough on the floor in the walk-in freezer; a gasket on a reach-in cooler was soiled; and unwrapped single-serve utensils were not presented so only the handles are touched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/the-red-top-pitstop\/sea6308305\/9137488\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">The Red Top Pitstop<\/a><\/strong>, 12160 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Nov. 8, there were four violations, including one high priority. That was for raw beef stored over soft drinks in a refrigerator.\u00a0 There were two intermediate: the person in charge lacked certification, and the well-water testing report wasn\u2019t available. Finally, one basic violation was for an accumulation of debris on the interior of an ice machine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/the-links-of-sandpiper\/sea6303252\/6800257\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Links Of Sandpiper<\/a><\/strong>, 6001 Sandpipers Drive, Lakeland: On Nov. 4, the restaurant had four violations, including one intermediate and three basic. The intermediate violation was for the manager\u2019s food certification being expired. Among the three basic, the inspector noted a warewashing machine with a soiled exterior, a soiled floor in the bar area and a bucket of pickles stored on the floor in the walk-in cooler. In a follow-up inspection on Nov. 15, the restaurant met standards with two basic violations remaining.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/taqueria-hidalgo\/mfd6350899\/7536956\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Taqueria Hidalgo<\/a><\/strong>, 6914 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Nov. 4, the food truck had four violations, including two intermediate. Those were both clerical in nature: the food manager\u2019s certification was expired and there was no proof of required state-approved employee training. Two basic violations were food debris inside a microwave and soiled shelves in a reach-in cooler.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/mr-pollo-mexican-grill\/sea6308692\/8099663\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Mr. Pollo Mexican Grill<\/a><\/strong>, 4981 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Nov. 8, the restaurant had four violations, including one high-priority. That was for raw meat stored over dairy products in the walk-in cooler.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were two intermediate violations: one for a mold-like substance in the ice chute at the self-serve soda station, the other for lacking proof of required employee training. Its lone basic violation was for a box of cheese stored on the floor in the walk-in cooler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/chick-fil-a-north-lakeland-fsr\/sea6308011\/4461539\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Chick-Fil-A<\/a><\/strong>, 4132 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Nov. 4, the restaurant had three violations, two basic and one intermediate. The intermediate was for an inoperable handwash sink. The basic violations were for a soiled floor near the potato fryer and debris on the handle of a single-door thaw cabinet. In a Nov. 8 follow-up inspection, the restaurant met standards with zero violations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/northside-asian-kitchen\/sea6308170\/6693819\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Northside Asian Kitchen<\/a><\/strong>, 6737 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Nov. 4, an inspector noted three violations, including two high priority. Those were for operating with an expired Division of Hotels and Restaurants license and raw chicken stored over ready-to-eat sauce in a walk-in cooler.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/data.theledger.com\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/brewlands-bar-and-billiards\/sea6308507\/7224815\/?next=\/restaurant-inspections\/polk\/\">Brewlands Bar and Billiards<\/a><\/strong>, 5161 U.S. 98 N., Lakeland: On Nov. 6, the restaurant and bar had three violations, including one intermediate. That was for the person in charge lacking food-manager certification. The two basic violations were for a mold-like substance on an interior shield in the ice machine and a wiping cloth sanitizing solution not mixed to the proper minimum strength. In a follow-up inspection on Nov. 8, the establishment met standards with zero violations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There were two intermediate violations: one for an employee washing his hands at the three-compartment sink (instead of the handwash sink), and another for failing to provide proof of required&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNFwvMTJcL2ltYWdlcy0yLndlYnA_Zml0PTM2NCUyQzEzOCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6Ikxha2VsYW5kIENvdW50eSBmb29kIHZlbmRvcnMgZmVsbCBzaG9ydCBvZiBzdGFuZGFyZHMiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.JhZklof_8ba8tJe0nRyS-BSRFbp9yzGWWGRCc3YW5dkMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":52208,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/images-2.webp","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[10438],"class_list":["post-52207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-lakeland-county-food-vendors-fell-short-of-standards"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52209,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52207\/revisions\/52209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}