Warm Salad, Mold Found At 2 Rockville Food Establishments: Inspection

ROCKVILLE, MD —Inspectors with the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Department recently cited two Rockville food establishments with critical violations. Both violations concerned food items being kept at an unsafe temperature.

All Montgomery County licensed retail food establishments are inspected by the Licensure & Regulatory Services Program. Regular comprehensive inspections include evaluating an establishment's sanitation, maintenance and food service operations. These inspections include monitoring critical temperatures and food handling procedures.

Both of the restaurants that inspectors visited on Sept. 19 and Sept. 21 were cited for critical violations of food safety requirements.

"A Critical Violation means a food safety requirement that requires immediate correction," according to the health and human services website. "Failure for immediate correction results in cessation of some or all food operations or closure of the facility until violation is able to be corrected."

Naz's Halal Food

During a Sept. 19 inspection of the Naz's Halal Food located at 1040 Rockville Pike in Rockville, an HHS inspector cited the food establishment with one critical violation involving the incorrect temperature of spoilable food in the prep table area and cook line.

"Salad (cut tomato & cut cucumber) in the Prep Table in Cook line observed above 41 degree F," the inspector wrote. The item was moved to the walk-in cooler for rapid chilling because its holding time was less than 4 hours."

The inspector also observed single-serve items in the serving area were not inverted to keep them from being contaminated.

The inspector noted the that the hand-washing sink at the three-compartment sink was block by containers. This was a repeat violation. The inspector did observe this violation being corrected.

In addition, there was no Montgomery County certified food safety manager on duty with a CFSM card during the inspection. Food establishments must have a CFSM on duty at all times when they operation.

Naz's Halal Food did not have food allergen awareness trained personnel on site at the time of the inspection, according to the report.

"Facilities required to have a certified food manager, must also have an employee who has successfully completed an approved food allergen awareness training course at times required," the inspector wrote.

The inspector also informed the restaurant's staff that a gender neutral sign was required on all single-use restroom doors. Montgomery County Bill #4-22 went into effect on Nov. 7, 2022:

"All Single-User restrooms must be provided with 'gender-neutral' signage, such as: All-Gender, Unisex, Toilet, Restroom, bathrooms, etc. Single-user restrooms may not designate/require a specific gender use (i.e. Remove Men's/Women's signage from entry)," the inspector wrote.

Montgomery County Detention Center

During a Sept. 21 inspection, an HHS inspector reported a critical violation at the Montgomery County Detention Center located at 1307 Seven Locks Road.

The violation concerned wrapped tuna that was being kept at 47' F on a pan sitting on top of ice. The tuna was immediately removed, correcting the violation.

"The interior white baffle of ice making machine has some dirt on it," according to the report.

The inspector recommended draining the an ice and then cleaning and sanitizer the interior of the machine. Also, if ice is being used on the serving line, food pans should be submerged at least half-way in order to maintain a temperature below 41'F.

The inspection report included the following three non-critical violations that needed to be addressed:

• "Cleaned utensils observed stored on shelves closer to the floor (about 12 inches).
• "Surfaces of some equipment including shelves are soiled with old debris.
• "Parts of the wall surfaces behind the dish machine table is moldy."

Related:

• Raw Chicken, Cold Meatballs At Rockville Eateries: Critical Violations
• Dead Crab, Algae, Mold Reported At Rockville Food Service Facility
• Mold, Droppings Found At 2 Rockville Food Establishments: Violations