Over 400 restaurant inspections conducted this July, is your Columbus fave on the list?
City and county health inspectors have inspected more than 400 bars, restaurants, grocery stores, schools and more in just the first two weeks of July, according to health department data collected by The Dispatch.
Franklin County Public Health and the Columbus Department of Public Health are responsible for regularly inspecting establishments that serve food to ensure they are complying with the Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code, a lengthy section of Ohio law that governs food safety.
Establishments with repeated, uncorrected violations can have their food licenses suspended, revoked, or have other restrictions placed on them. In severe cases, public health departments can order restaurants to close.
See restaurant inspections: View our database from Columbus and Franklin County
What types of violations are there?
Health violations fall into two categories: critical and non-critical.
Non-critical violations are "not directly related to the cause of foodborne illness" but could impede the operation of the business, according to Columbus Public Health. The chances of foodborne illnesses caused by non-critical violations is low, but if left uncorrected they could become critical violations. Examples include improper food storage and lack of cleanliness.
Critical violations are "more likely than other violations to directly contribute to food contamination, or foodborne illness," according to Columbus Public Health. Examples include improper cooking, improper temperature control, or expired food.
Just because a restaurant has been recently inspected doesn't mean it has issues; every restaurant gets inspected from time to time. But if a restaurant has recently received a follow-up inspection, that means that inspectors found a critical health violation at a previous visit and are following up to ensure it's been corrected.
Which restaurants had the most violations in July?
The top three restaurants with the most critical violations as of Friday (not including schools, grocery stores, residential facilities or country clubs) are:
Nawabi Hyderabad House, 6395 Perimeter Loop Road, Dublin
Six critical violations: Inspectors found a person in charge was not familiar with food allergens and their health risks, a worktable blocking a handwashing sink, missing chlorine sanitizer, eggs kept at room temperature, meats and a sauce stored at 45 degrees and unlabeled spray liquids. The food allergens, eggs, warm food and spray bottles were corrected during the inspection.
Two non-critical violations: Inspectors found handwashing sinks were missing disposable towels, and stainless-steel pans were stored while still wet. The missing disposable towels were replaced during the inspection.
Bubbles Tea & Juice Company, 121 Mill Street, Suite A122, Gahanna
Five critical violations: Inspectors found the store had no written procedure or clean-up kit to deal with vomit or feces, no employee illness policy, sanitary solution was not up to specification, black build-up around the edges of an ice machine and an open gallon of milk with no date marking. The milk and the sanitary solution were corrected during the inspection.
One non-critical violation: Inspectors found a handwashing sink did not reach 100 degrees in 60 seconds.
Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern, 6726 Perimeter Loop Road, Dublin
Five critical violations: Inspectors found some of their cutting boards were stained yellow/brown, chicken and fish stored at 45 degrees, batters with no time marking, live drain flies, and a lack of test strips for testing vegetable and fruit washing solution. The chicken and fish and the batters were corrected during inspection.
Where can I see all the health inspections?
The Dispatch has a data webpage where you can see thousands of health inspections performed over the past few years. You can choose between city and county inspections and search by a restaurant's name, or you can just tab through the most recent inspections.
The webpage is available here.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Health inspections: See which local restaurants were inspected in July
