An Ocala commercial kitchen that offers small businesses and food trucks the opportunity to rent facilities for food preparation was temporarily shut down by a health inspector last week.
The Let’s Eat Fresh Commissary Kitchen, located at 809 N Magnolia Ave., was closed Tuesday, May 14 at 10:48 a.m. after a health inspector cited 17 violations, the most egregious of which dealt with roaches and rodent activity, according to a report on file with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
The inspector found five high-priority violations. One centered on semi-hard rodent droppings found in the facility – 11 on the floor, 13 in the clean dish storage area and five in a catering equipment storage area. Nine live roaches were found in the back corner of the restaurant near a three-door freezer. And three flies were spotted in the kitchen area.
The other two high-priority violations were recorded because raw meatloaf was stored over cooked sauce and an employee touched her face and continued preparing food without washing her hands, the report says.
The restaurant also was cited with two intermediate violations. The first was because the eatery wasn’t properly tracking or marking the number of days “ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous” food prepared onsite was held at refrigeration temperatures prior to freezing in order to properly date-mark the food when it was thawed and held at refrigeration temperatures again. That violation involved lasagna, eggplant, chicken Parmesan, etc., the report says.
The second intermediate violation centered on the fact that required employee training had expired, according to the report.
The 10 basic violations cited by the health inspector included:
- Thirty-five dead roaches on the floor and in the clean dish storage area throughout the kitchen and four in the front catering equipment area.
- A buildup up of grease/dust/debris on hood filters.
- Ceiling tiles over the prep table in the kitchen and dishwashing area in disrepair.
- Contact paper used to line clean dish storage shelving.
- Cutting boards with cut marks that no longer are cleanable.
- Holes in walls throughout the restaurant.
- Old labels stuck to food containers after cleaning.
- A three-compartment sink drain line draining slowly and a prep sink drain line leaking onto the floor.
- Food storage lids and dollies not stored inverted or protected from contamination.
- Sugar in the new dry storage area removed from its original container and not identified by its common name.
A follow-up inspection was held later the same day, with the inspector citing nine remaining violations. But the facility was allowed to reopen at 4:25 p.m.