Mishandling Raw Meat Reported At Multiple Arlington Eateries: Health

ARLINGTON, VA — Five food establishments in Arlington recorded violations during recent inspections from the Arlington County Public Health Department. Inspectors conducted visited nine restaurants between June 3-6 and no violations were reported at four of them.

All five of the kitchens where violations were found had cross contamination risks due to the handling of raw meat.

At one restaurant, a health department inspector included the following corrective action in their report:

"Separate raw animal foods during storage, preparation, holding, and display from raw [Ready To Eat] food including other raw animal food such as fish for sushi or molluscan shellfish, or other raw RTE food such as vegetables, and cooked RTE food."

More information about what types of violations ACPHD inspectors reports can be found at the bottom of this story. Here are the violations from June 3-6 as reported by Arlington County Public Health:

Sushi Jip

3000 Washington Blvd Arlington, VA 22201
Status: Permitted

MOST RECENT INSPECTION
Full Service Restaurant | Pre-Opening
June 6, 2024

• No Observations Or Corrective Actions Reported

Istanbul Grill

4617 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22203
Status: Permitted

Full Service Restaurant | Risk Factor
June 5, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• Observed raw chicken stored over raw fish in "Avatico" 2-drawers ref. Corrective Actions: Raw foods like poultry, beef, pork, seafood, and eggs shall be stored to prevent cross contamination.

Pho Saigon Pearl

950 S George Mason Dr Suite 116 Arlington, VA 22204
Status: Permitted

Fast Food | Risk Factor
June 5, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• Observed a food employee using same pair of tongs with raw- and cooked chicken and beef. Corrective Actions: Prevent cross-contamination by using separate utensils for raw- and cooked chicken, beef and seafoods.
• Observed the food-contact surfaces of the slicer blade assembly not clean to sight and touch. Corrective Actions: Clean and sanitize the slicer blade assembly.
• Observed beef brisket (47F), chicken (44F), bean sprouts (44F) and meatballs (47F) at improper cold holding temperature in the "Atosa" 2-dr cookline prep ref. Corrective Actions: Relocate time/temperature control for safety (TCS) food to a refrigeration unit that is capable of maintaining food storage at 41°F or below.

Acme Pie, Co

2803 Columbia Pike Arlington, VA 22204
Status: Permitted

Fast Food | Routine
June 5, 2024

• No Observations Or Corrective Actions Reported

Coco B's

2854 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22201
Status: Permitted

Full Service Restaurant | Follow-Up
June 4, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• No parasite destruction records maintained for raw, raw marinated, partially cooked or marinated-partially cooked fish that are served or sold in ready-to-eat form. Corrective Actions: Obtain a written agreement or statement from the supplier stipulating that the fish supplied are either frozen throughout to a temperature of -4°F (-20°C) for 168 hours (7 days) in a freezer or at -31°F (-35°C) for 15 hours in a blast freezer OR provides the genus and species of tuna served raw, marinated, raw-marinated, partially cooked or marinated partially-cooked fish to verify that they do not need to be frozen for parasite destruction because they are exempt.
• Observed that salsa (56F), sour cream (65F) were holding in the right cookline prep cooler above 41F. Half and Half (46F) holding above 41F in the 2 door reach in cooler, Hamburger (55F) holding above 41F in the lowboy cooler. Corrective Actions: Discard all foods held out of temperature for more that 4 hours in the coolers. Ensure that potentially hazardous foods for cold holding are maintained at 41°F or below to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. PIC discarded foods.
• Observed roasted garlic dated 5/18 in cooler, observed mozzarella and chicken wings dated 5/17 in cooler. Corrective Actions: Discard the food at this time and ensure all prepared RTE (TCS) food is served, sold or discarded within 7 days of prep. Foods discarded by staff.
• Observed that the prep table, lowboy cooler, 2 door cooler is not operating to maintain foods at 41F or below. Corrective Actions: Repair or adjust the equipment to ensure it is able to hold foods stored inside at 41F or below.

T.H.A.I. In Shirlington Restaurant

4029 Campbell Ave Arlington, VA 22206
Status: Permitted

Full Service Restaurant | Risk Factor
June 4, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• Observed red tofu (73F), flat rice noodles (82F) and bean sprouts (65F) were not received at 41F or below. Corrective Actions: Discard or reject delivery of potentially hazardous food received above 41°F. Routinely inspect PHF upon receipt for evidence of current or previous temperature abuse.
• Observed food-contact surfaces of some knives, spatulas and other utensils not clean to sight and touch. Corrective Actions: Clean and sanitize the food contact surfaces of the knives, spatulas and other utensils between and after uses to prevent cross contamination.

Cafe Nordstrom

1400 S Hayes St Arlington, VA 22202
Status: Permitted

Fast Food | Risk Factor
June 3, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• Observed the food-contact surface of the slicer blade assembly is not clean to sight and touch. Corrective Actions: Clean and sanitize the food contact surface of the slicer blade assembly.

Grill Kabob of Arlington

708 N Glebe Rd Arlington, VA 22203
Status: Permitted

Full Service Restaurant | Risk Factor
June 3, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• The facility is not under the immediate control of a certified food manager. Corrective Actions: Ensure the facility is under the immediate control of a certified food manager at all hours of operation.
• Observed raw chicken stored over cooked chick peas in the walk-in cooler. The chicken was relocated during the inspection. Corrective Actions: Ensure raw animal products are stored to ensure there is no contamination to RTE foods.

Aladdin's Kitchen

5169 Langston Blvd. Arlington, VA 22207
Status: Permitted

Full Service Restaurant | Follow-Up
June 3, 2024

Observations & Corrective Actions

• The PIC presented a copy of 2024 health license. Post 2024 health license conspicuously. Corrective Actions: Post original 2024 health license conspicuously.
• Observed raw chicken stored over raw vegetables in "QBD" 2-sliding glass dr ref. Corrective Actions: Separate raw animal foods during storage, preparation, holding, and display from raw RTE food including other raw animal food such as fish for sushi or molluscan shellfish, or other raw RTE food such as vegetables, and cooked RTE food.

What Violations Do ACPHD Inspectors Report?

In Virginia, all food service locations are supposed to be inspected at least once per year. Facilities with higher risk factors may be inspected as often as four times per year, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Violations at restaurants typically focus on factors that can contribute to food contamination. The local health department can also perform a re-inspection to ensure that possible violations have been corrected. Sometimes, the follow-up inspection only considers the most important "priority" violations.

For every observed violation, the inspector provides a specific corrective action that can be completed to rectify the violation. Sometimes these are simple, and violations can be corrected during the course of the inspection. Depending on the results of the inspection, the health department can pursue several actions.

They can issue a permit for the restaurant to continue serving food, they can schedule a follow-up inspection to determine if violations have been rectified, or they can temporarily shut down an establishment until certain issues are solved.

The Virginia Department of Health only recommends restaurants have their permits suspended when "the continued operation of the food service presents a substantial and imminent threat to the public health."

More Health Code Violations:

• Insect Floating In Sauce, Pests In Sushi Fridge: Arlington Inspections
• Calamari Thawing In Container On Floor Under Sink: Food Inspections
• No Parasite Destruction Records Kept For Raw Fish: Health Inspections
• Chemical Poisoning Risk With Unlabeled Food Containers: Inspections
• Little Flies Observed; Chicken Legs Kept Too Cold: Health Inspections
• Health Inspections: Dented Tomato Juice Can labelled 'Don't Use'
• Bananas Stored In Wet Container With Sanitizer: Health Inspections
• Rodents, Insects And Other Pests: Arlington Health Inspection Reports