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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 18, 2005 Denise Reid cooks hamburgers at Mr. Smith's restuarant in Medford, while Jackson County Inspector Chad Peterson checks a storage space under the counter. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell You sure it’s safe to eat here? That’s a question county restaurant inspectors try to answer every day Stories by SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Open for less than a year, Medford’s Artisan Bakery Cafe is all polished granite and shiny chrome. Plump pastries behind spotless glass tempt lunchtime customers. It’s hardly the type of place where one would expect to find a hair in the soup or a fly on the wall. But impeccable appearances don’t fool restaurant inspector Greg Chakarun. He’s looking at what patrons don’t see. The biggest problems — even in a clean facility — take place on a microscopic level and can result in food-borne illness. Every weekday, an inspection takes place in at least one of Jackson County’s 600-some restaurants. Complying with food-handling regulations earns facilities a one-size-fits-all sticker of approval on their front doors. But detailed information on each restaurant’s score is now available via the Internet. The county’s Web site ( www.jacksoncounty.org ) started posting scores last month. "I think this ... just kind of keeps people in check," said Artisan owner Scott Brechtel. "A lot of owners aren’t always owner-operators. Things can slip through the cracks, so to speak." Brechtel’s last inspection garnered one critical violation — a failure to date refrigerated cakes and pastries. This time, the case is dotted with little slips of paper displaying dates. The restaurant has seven days to sell the cakes. Advertisement Like a grocery-store scanner, Chakarun’s infrared thermometer flashes a number plucked from the refrigerator’s air. All the bakery’s refrigerators are in the appropriate range, between 41 degrees and freezing. Stabbing a probe thermometer into a slice of carrot cake, Chakarun confirms internal temperatures are satisfactory as well. Chakarun breezes through the rest of Artisan’s inspection, barely glancing at stacks of pans coated in baked-on grease, which is not a health concern. He pops the lid off a garbage-can-sized container like he’s looking for the skeleton in the bakery’s closet. "Just a big bag of flour." He takes the temperature of soup in an electric warming kettle. At 180 degrees, it’s probably hot enough to scald most patrons’ tongues, but a temperature of 140 degrees or higher is just what Chakarun likes to see. He measures the strength of Artisan’s bleach solution for cleaning countertops and recommends a fresh bucket. In the end, he docks a few points for some food items stored on the kitchen floor instead of on shelving, resulting in an overall score of 96. Artisan serves soups, salads and sandwiches, in addition to fresh-baked bread and pastries. By contrast, a full-service restaurant with an extensive menu simply has more areas that could pose problems, health officials say. A score of 85 for a restaurant that serves three meals a day most likely represents excellent compliance, Chakarun said. Deemed outstanding in so many arenas, from atmosphere to an incomparable wine list, Jacksonville Inn did not perform perfectly on its most recent inspection. But scoring a 91 while offering at least 100 menu items over three daily meals is, nonetheless, exceptional. "If you have a big restaurant with a lot of space, they can find a lot of little things," said owner Jerry Evans, adding that many inspection categories have nothing to do with food quality. However, Evans said he is in favor of restaurant scores being available online as long as the public doesn’t misconstrue them. "If this puts more pressure on restaurants to pay attention to those critical violations, then it’s probably a good thing," he said. Chain restaurants also can practice near-perfect food-handling techniques. Locally, several Burger King, Wendy’s, Subway and Pizza Hut restaurants scored 100 on their most recent inspection. The high scores are likely the product of those restaurants employing their own quality control experts and using specialized equipment, such as conveyor grills, that take the guesswork out of cooking, Chakarun said. "They take away that human element," Chakarun said. "It’s scientific means." Approximately 1 percent of the county’s restaurants failed to comply with health regulations during their most recent inspection. Medford’s La Casa Del Pueblo, Silver Dragon and Tin Tin Buffet, in addition to Ashland’s House of Thai Cuisine and Rogue River’s The Station, all scored in the 60s. Ashland’s Munchie’s and Medford’s Shiki Four Seasons both scored in the 50s. Restaurants need a score of 70 or higher to be in compliance. All restaurants that failed to comply held cooked or raw foods at unsafe temperatures. At six of the establishments, inspectors observed kitchen employees drinking from unapproved containers while working. Restaurant employees must drink from a cup with a lid and straw to minimize hand-to-mouth contact. Some restaurants that failed to comply employed workers who did not have valid food handler cards. Some employees started work without washing their hands. Several establishments did not properly clean and sanitize equipment used for cutting raw meat. While the majority of restaurants that failed to comply had dirty facilities or some dilapidated equipment, cleanliness problems result in only one- to two-point deductions compared with four- to five-point critical violations for improper temperature control and sanitizing methods. Each restaurant passed a re-inspection within a month to remain open. Until their scores reached 70, those restaurants were required to display a red sticker in their window for a minimum of seven days informing the public that they failed to comply. "When he gave us that failure-to-comply sticker, everyone was just shocked," said Mary Dougherty, manager of The Station, a restaurant with a loyal following in Rogue River. The health department did note problems maintaining proper food temperatures and dating leftover items at The Station. But one of the establishment’s most critical issues didn’t pose such an obvious risk to the public. Housed in a converted residence built in the 1930s, the restaurant has only one toilet for customers, a situation that was not adequate for its 18 seats. Because The Station can’t remodel its building, the owners simply removed several booths and replaced them with chairs, bringing the number of seats down to an allowable 15, Dougherty said. But the health department had already deducted eight points from the restaurant’s overall total. The Station made copies of its inspection for customers to explain the violations, which were soon corrected. Putting the scores on the Internet is a great idea, Dougherty said, although she wishes the health department provided more specific information on violations in the same format. Chakarun agreed that restaurant scores initially can be misleading to the general public. The county included a disclaimer to that effect on the new Web site: "At first blush, it isn’t everything it appears." These kitchens get ‘straight A’s’ Restaurants that scored 100 percent in their most recent health department inspection*: Abby’s Pizza, Central Point. Burger King, Ashland. Corner Club, Central Point. Depot Street Burger and Malt Shop, Rogue River. Domino’s Pizza, Court Street, Medford. Elaine’s Place, Medford. Lela’s Bakery, Ashland. Medford Elk’s Lodge, Medford. Papa John’s Pizza, Biddle Road, Medford. Picnic Basket Delicatessen, Shady Cove. Pizza Hut, Riverside Avenue, Medford. Quizno’s of Ashland, Ashland. Shady Cove Taco Bell Express, Shady Cove. Subway Sandwiches, White City. Upper Rogue Moose Lodge, Shady Cove. Wendy’s, Ashland. Wendy’s, North Riverside Avenue, Medford. Zoey’s Cafe and All-Natural Ice Cream, Ashland. *List does not include snack bars, coffee stands or juice bars. The entire list of inspection scores is available on Jackson County’s Web site: Visit www.co.jackson.or.us and click "Restaurant Inspection Scores" in the left-hand menu. Failed to comply The following are restaurants that logged a score of less than 70 on their most recent inspection, failing to comply with state health regulations: House of Thai Cuisine, Ashland — 62 with three critical violations. La Casa Del Pueblo, Medford — 66 with five critical violations. Munchie’s, Ashland — 58 with 10 critical violations. Shiki Four Seasons, Medford — 51 with five critical violations. Silver Dragon, Medford — 64 with three critical violations. The Station, Rogue River — 61 with five critical violations. Tin Tin Buffet, Medford — 68 with four critical violations. For more information on specific violations, visit the environmental health division of Jackson County Health and Human Services, 1005 E. Main St., Medford. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail You sure it�s safe to eat here? ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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