The Journal publishes local restaurant inspection reports provided monthly by the Montezuma County Health Department.
Inspections of all retail food facilities are done yearly, and in some cases more than once per year. Unannounced inspections are conducted for restaurants, school cafeterias, hospital and nursing home cafeterias, grocery stores, convenience stores, fairgrounds, resorts, food trucks, festivals and any event or facility where food is sold to the public.
Melissa Mathews conducts about 145 retail food facility inspections every year for Montezuma and Dolores counties as the county Health Department’s environmental health specialist.
The comprehensive inspections are completed on-site and include compliance standards set by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. The categories are divided into critical and noncritical health standards specific to retail food facilities.
Critical areas are those that if not in compliance may cause food-borne illnesses. The categories include food sources, personnel, food temperature control, sanitation, water systems and plumbing, hand-washing facilities, pest control and poisonous or toxic items.
Noncritical areas are important, but have less risk of causing food born illnesses. The categories include food labeling and protection, equipment design and construction, testing devices, cleaning of equipment utensils and linens, and physical facilities.
Under Colorado law, any retail food customer can ask an establishment for its latest inspection report, and the facility is required to provide it, Mathews said.
Wild Coffee320 3rd Street, Unit C, Dove Creek
date: April 4, 1 hour
critical violations: 0
noncritical violations: 0
Olio114 Grand Ave., Mancos
Date: April 6
Critical violations: 2
1. Personnel category: Hands washed as needed
inspector comments: Employees observed not hand washing when required. Observed employee coming to work and not washing hands before beginning work. Problem corrected on-site.
2. Sanitation category: Mechanical sanitization
inspector comments: Chemical sanitizing warewashing machine does not provide sufficient chemical concentration in final rinse. Observed sanitizing solution being dispensed but it would not register on test strip. Will have the machine serviced, but will add manually a sanitizing solution to each cycle. Problem corrected on-site.
noncritical violations: 0
El Grande Cafe28 Main Street, Cortez
Date: April 10, 1.2 hours
critical violations: 0
noncritical violations: 0
Absolute Bakery & Cafe21 Main Street, Mancos
Date: April 16, 1.5 hours
Critical violations: 2
1. Personnel category: Preventing food contamination from bare hands.
Inspector comments: Employee observed using bare hands to contact ready-to-eat foods. Observed employee using bare hands on bread products and tortillas. Problem was corrected on-site.
2. Food temperature control: Rapidly cool foods to 41 degrees Fahrenheit
inspector comments: Potentially hazardous food products are not rapidly cooled from 135 Fahrenheit to 70 Fahrenheit within 2 hours and from 70 Fahrenheit to 41 Fahrenheit within an additional 4 hours. Observed cooling diced cooked potatoes at 70 deg. Fahrenheit at 12:51 pm. The temperature was taken again at 1:45 pm and the food product was at 68 Fahrenheit. The required cooling parameter of 7 deg. Fahrenheit/hour for foods that have reached 70 deg. Fahrenheit was not being met. Problem corrected on-site.
noncritical violations: 0
Dove Creek Superette Deli445 U.S. 491, Dove Creek
Date: April 20, 2.9 hours
critical violations: 3
1. Personnel category: Hygienic practices
inspector comments: Employee observed using sinks for purposes other than what they are designed for. Observed employee coming to work and washing hands in 3 compartment sink. Problem corrected on-site.
2. Food temperature control category: Hot hold at 135 Fahrenheit or greater.
inspector comments: Potentially hazardous food products are not being properly hot held at 135 Fahrenheit or above at all times during service. Observed cooked breaded chicken at 127 Fahrenheit. Observed special of the day (lasagna) in pizza oven at 127 Fahrenheit. All were there for more than four hours. Problem corrected on-site.
3. Poisonous or toxic items category: Properly stored.
inspector comments: Toxic products are improperly stored in facility. Spray bottle with sanitizer sitting on counter with food and clean equipment.
Noncritical violations: 2
1. Cleaning of equipment/utensils category: Food contact surfaces
inspector comments: Food contact surfaces are not clean to sight and touch. Can opener dirty with food build-up.
2. Cleaning of equipment/utensils category: Non-food contact surfaces.
inspector comments: Nonfood-contact surfaces are not clean. Milk/egg reach-in coolers have food build-up inside of the units. Door handles, glass doors, outside of fryer and pizza fridge all dirty with debris. Soda fountain cabinets have soda spills. Produce case has spills on outside of the case. Under pizza refrigerator and pizza oven there is a lot of food on floor.
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center23390 County Road K, Cortez
Date: April 19, 2.2 hours
critical violations: 2
1. Food temperature control category: Rapidly cool foods to 41 Fahrenheit or less.
Inspector comments: Potentially hazardous food products are not rapidly cooled from 135 Fahrenheit to 70 Fahrenheit within 2 hours and from 70 Fahrenheit to 41 Fahrenheit within an additional 4 hours. Observed jambalaya from the previous day in the reach-in at 43 Fahrenheit. Problem was corrected on-site.
2. Poisonous or toxic items category: Properly used
inspector comments: Chemical sanitizer used on food-contact surfaces exceeds maximum allowable concentration. Observed excess of 200 ppm solution in a spray bottle used for cutting boards. Problem was corrected on-site.
noncritical violations: 0