BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
Of the two Bradford County restaurants inspected by state health officials in October, one passed with nine violations noted, and a second reduced the number of violations inspectors uncovered from an initial 18 to four, according to state records.
Officials reported that McDonald’s at 802 South Walnut Street in Starke met inspection standards during an October 25 visit by health inspectors. The eatery owned by MTLM, Inc. was flagged for a sink in the women’s bathroom that was in disrepair, standing water under a sink, a missing lid on an outside garbage can, and a buildup of debris on a freezer door. Inspectors also said employees did not timely dispose of stick butter on a warmer, that a handwash sink was used for purposes other than handwashing, and that no paper towels or dryer were near the handwashing sink near a drive-thru window.
Officials also cited the restaurant for not having a vacuum breaker on a hose bib near the dumpster. A vacuum breaker prevents faucet water from flowing backward and potentially contaminating water remaining in the line.
Inspectors visited the Keystone Inn on State Road 100 near the Bradford-Clay County line on October 6 for a follow-up call. Officials uncovered 18 violations during a Sept. 22 visit, including high-priority violations of a missing vacuum breaker on a hose bibb, a dysfunctional dish machine chlorine sanitizer, an employee that was observed cracking raw eggs and failing to wash hands before handling ready-to-eat food, raw animal food stored or not adequately separated from ready-to-eat food, and the discovery of rodent droppings. In a follow-up inspection on Sept. 28, the eatery’s violations had been cut from 18 to five, and the October 6 inspection yielded only four violations, with one high-priority violation: a missing vacuum breaker on a faucet outside the back door.
