Mae's Thai Cuisine

Observed cold TCS food stored above 41 F (half-and-half, tofu). COS. Items discarded. CA: TCS food that uses cold holding as a control for safety shall be held at 41 F or below.

Observed hot TCS food being held below 135 F (rice). COS. Discarded. CA: TCS food that uses hot holding as a control for safety shall be held at 135 F or higher.

Observed that the mechanical warewasher appeared to be dispensing chlorine, however, the chlorine concentration was at 0 PPM. COS. Facility does not have any spare chlorine to change out for the dishwasher, so they will hand sanitize dishes in the 3-compartment sink until the warewasher is properly sanitizing. CA: Mechanical warewashers shall dispense sanitizer at the appropriate concentration.

Observed wet wiping cloths stored on counters throughout the facility. COS. Removed. CA: Wet wiping cloths shall be placed in sanitizer solution at the appropriate concentration between uses.

Observed damaged floor tiles in the kitchen. CA: Facility shall be maintained in a state of good repair.

Observed employee belongings stored with and above food and food contact surfaces. COS. Removed. CA: Employee belongings and activities shall be in designated locations that prevent contamination of food and food contact surfaces.

Observed that both hand sinks were inaccessible due to a wet wiping cloth bucket being stored in one and a large bowl full of shrimp resting in the other. COS. All items moved. CA: Hand sinks shall be kept clear and accessible at all times.

Observed that the facility prepared TCS food from room temperature and was attempting to cool them in bulk containers on the counter. COS. Items broken down and placed into smaller containers; placed into coolers. CA: Cooling methods shall be appropriate to ensure items cool in the proper time frame.

Observed utensils stored with the use-end up where it would be grabbed by the use end. COS. Items inverted. CA: Utensils shall be stored inverted, covered, or otherwise protected from contamination.

Observed there were TCS items (chicken, tofu) that were cooked Saturday but did not have a date on them. COS. Dates added. CA: Prepared TCS food that is held longer than 24 hours shall be date marked with the day of prep, the day of discard, or both, but the method of date marking shall remain consistent.

Observed that food was stored under the 3-compartment sink where it was exposed to splash. COS. Items moved. CA: Food shall be stored to prevent contamination.

Observed that the facility was thawing raw meat in the vegetable sink. COS. Items removed. CA: The fruit and vegetable sink shall only be used for washing produce and thawing RTE food.

Observed that the most recent inspection report shall not be posted. CA: The most recent inspection report shall be posted within 15 feet of the front door, 5-7 from the floor, readable from a distance of 1 foot away, and in a conspicuous place.

Observed that the facility was attempting to cool items, but based on predictive cooling they will not reach the required temperature-time benchmarks; temperatures taken 1 hour apart. Chicken cooled 17 F, chicken cooled 20 F, rice cooled 2 F. COS. Items broken down and placed into coolers to better facilitate cooling. CA: Cooling shall be accomplished by gong from 135 F to 71 F within 2 hours and from 71 F to 41 F within another 4 hours.

Observed employees on their phones and doing other tasks and then start working with food without washing their hands. COS. All employees removed gloves, washed hands, and donned new gloves as appropriate. CA: Hands shall be washed prior to working with food, when changing tasks, or when contamination occurs.

Observed that the facility was storing containers of produce inside of containers of raw chicken, observed raw squid stored above produce, observed raw beef, chicken, and seafood stored with and above produce and RTE food; observed that non-commercially packaged raw meats were stored with and above RTE foods. COS. Units reorganized; items that were contaminated were discarded. CA: Food shall be stored according to their internal cook temperatures.

Observed cold TCS food stored above 41 F (dairy products). COS. Items discarded. CA: TCS food that uses cold holding as a control for safety shall be held at 41 F or below.

Observed that there were several foodborne illness risk factor and public health intervention violations within the facility; facility does not have active managerial control of the processes happening. CA: Person-in-charge shall maintain active managerial control and address and prevent violations of this code .

Observed that there was a small child in the dry storage room who was sitting with open and exposed food; observed the child plunge their hands into the rice that is going to be served and play with it. COS. Child moved and rice discarded. CA: Only authorized personnel shall be allowed into food areas.

Observed there were prepared TCS items (cooked noodles, soups) that were date marked with the day of preparation and were held longer than 7 days. COS. Items discarded. CA: Prepared TCS items shall be held for no more than 7 days with the day of prep counting as day 1.

Observed that the facility was unable to provide verifiable evidence of employee health reporting requirement acknowledgement. CA: The facility shall be able to provide verifiable evidence of employee health reporting requirement acknowledgement.

Observed employee drinks not stored in single-use containers and in single-use containers that were stored with and above food and food contact surfaces. COS. All drinks removed. CA: Employee drinks shall be in single-use containers with a lid and a straw and shall be handled to prevent contamination.

Observed that the hand sink in the kitchen was inaccessible due to have food and dishes stacked in it; these items were moved. After these items were moved, staff then started to thaw frozen meat in the hand sink. COS. All items moved, staff educated on proper hand sink usage, all items moved again, staff educated again. CA: Hand sinks shall be kept clear and accessible at all times.

Observed food stored uncovered. COS. Food covered. CA: Food shall be stored covered.

Observed that the facility placed items, like phones, on the cutting/prep board that they were preparing food on. COS. Items removed and surface wiped with a wet wiping cloth. CA: Food contact surfaces shall be kept clean.