Pacific Produce Supermarket to Get Another Chance

Pacific Produce is getting a second life, just in time to prevent the popular Asian supermarket at 5455 S. 27th Street from making city of Greenfield history.

And not the good kind of history.

For more than a year, the Greenfield Health Department has been monitoring , which operates in the former Kohl’s Food Store location, and dedicating an unordinary amount of resources to the location after several food violations – both major and minor – were uncovered.

On Thursday, Darren Rausch, the city's health director, is expected to suggest to the Board of Health that Pacific Produce owner Sat Le be allowed to renew his retail food license for the supermarket under the same conditions the board placed on Le’s license in January.

But earlier this year, the health department was fed up enough with Le that it set a date for a license revocation hearing that would have occurred next month.

“We were feeling strongly enough about revoking the license that we started the process of the summons and complaint,” Rausch said. “This is something that we don’t do lightly.”

According to Rausch, former Fields Family Restaurant on Loomis Road is the only known establishment in the city to have its food license revoked, and that occurred 15 years ago.

“We want to be business-friendly and work with the business,” Rausch said. “We ultimately don’t want to shut anybody down. But we also require people to follow the Wisconsin food code and prevent outbreaks and problems.”

Rausch said his department has had five main concerns with Pacific Produce, coupled with a number of minor violations.

The biggest issues have been employee knowledge and training; maintaining proper temperatures for hot and cold foods; proper storage of foods, specifically meats; employee hygiene; and improper labeling of foods, which includes listing ingredients and allergens.

Since January, the Health Department issued two full inspections and 12 re-inspections. That number is greater than any tally for any other establishment within city limits, according to Rausch.

He said the high number can be traced to two reasons: because Pacific Produce is being watched more closely than usual and because the department continues to chase down the same problems, or new problems that arise during visits.

“We can go into any establishment and find some (violation) during inspections,” Rausch said. “What has set Pacific Produce apart from the others is we don’t have the compliance.

“We have more than 220 total licensed establishments in the city. When we spend this much time on one, it really takes away from what we can do with others.”

Between the supermarket’s opening Nov. 15, 2010 and a Board of Health meeting held Jan. 26, 2012, Pacific Produce had been inspected or re-inspected 23 times; had two investigations stemming from customer complaints; had 11 consultations related to food safety and compliance issues; was issued six citations and received one order to close the deli area in May 2011.

In January, the health department gave Pacific Produce a six-month window to get its act together. It changed its food license to a conditional food license and agreed to work with management toward achieving compliance.

At a May 7 inspection, there were some minor issues, but according to Rausch, the establishment has made enough improvements to avoid revocation of its license, at least for now.

Among those changes are the hiring of several trained certified food managers and bringing on a food safety consultant.

John Germanotta, the attorney representing Le, said he would confer with his client after Thursday's meeting about responding to questions emailed by Patch.

Should the Board of Health agree with Rausch’s recommendations, Pacific Produce will have its food license renewed July 1. That license will be reassessed at a meeting in September. Before that meeting, the health department is expected to conduct at least two more full inspections.

“We’ll have a good idea if they can do it or can’t do it at that point,” Rausch said. “We are heading in the right direction, but I’d like to give them more time to make sure that’s going to be maintained. Our greatest fear is they achieve compliance and a few months later, there is a backslide.”