3 Tri-Cities restaurants fail food inspections this year after surprise visits

The Benton Franklin Health District is ramping up its food inspection program after switching during the COVID pandemic to online consultations with restaurants and other establishments serving food.

The virtual consultations during much of 2020 and 2021 were used as a way for district staff to support businesses in reducing risks within their facilities, said Lars Richins, environmental health specialist for the district.

The consultations included discussions ranging from their food safety practices to information on Washington state COVID-19 restrictions, such as earlier requirements that limited seating.

However, restaurants and other agencies, such as schools with cafeterias, were not given their usual surprise inspections.

County health district staff assigned to food safety was reduced during the pandemic because employees were reassigned to help with the district’s COVID-19 response.

Employees were needed to other tasks ranging from working with businesses that had COVID-19 outbreaks to tracing the contacts of people sickened with COVID to alert people they might have infected.

Some in-person food inspections were done starting in late 2021 and January, but they temporarily stopped again with the surge of the omicron variant and spike in new COVID infections in Benton and Franklin counties.

A few of the food safety’s team members continue to be assigned to help with COVID-19 response and new staff members are being trained, Richins said.

And the food safety program has temporarily changed its requirements for establishments that fail food safety inspections.

Failed inspections policy

A restaurant that gets a score of at least 35 “red” points still fails the inspection, but staff will not be conducting a followup inspection unless an establishment gets a red point score of at least 85.

Red points are given for practices that are the most likely to infect someone with a food-borne illness. They include not keeping food at temperatures to prevent bacteria growth or employees handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands.

The temporary change is to allow the district’s limited food safety staff to focus on catching up on routine inspections since most establishments are past due.

Inspectors will return to follow-up inspections for all establishments that fail an inspection once it has caught up with its backlog of initial inspections, Richins said.

The health district inspects about 1,300 establishments, and some of those, like grocery stores, might have separate inspections for the meat department, deli and bakery, for a total list of about 1,600 separate inspections that are required as often as twice a year.

Routine inspections are usually done about every six months. But some businesses considered lower risk for food safety issues, such as coffee stands and gas station convenience stores, may only be inspected once a year.

Inspection results are posted online so residents can look up the status of restaurants.

Go to bit.ly/BFHDinspections. Click on the business name and then on the date of the inspection on the right half of the next page. Look for the “Violations” tab.

January inspections

In January three restaurants in the Tri-Cities area failed their food inspections — one of them twice.

The district did 15 health inspections that month before pausing inspections due to the increased workload with the new COVID surge.

One business received a perfect score.

In the district’s full inspections, businesses or organizations that receive 35 points for the more serious red violations fail inspections.

If an additional inspection is required — currently for restaurants with a score of 85 or more — they must meet a tougher standard on those.

They must have fewer than 25 red points and a limited number of repeat problems to pass followup inspections.

Call 509-460-4205 with questions or concerns.

Failed inspections

Ruby Thai Kitchen, 1321 N. Columbia Center Boulevard, Kennewick (110 red, 3 blue)

Notes: Improper hand washing, bare had contact with ready-to-eat foods, improperly disposing of potentially unsafe foods, improper hot holding, room temperature storage or improper use of time as a control.

Ruby Thai Kitchen, followup inspection (45 red, 0 blue)

Notes: Inadequate handwashing facilities, raw meat improperly stored, room temperature storage or improper use of time as a control, accurate thermometer not provided or used.

The Endive, 4001 Kennedy Road, West Richland (35 red, 3 blue)

Notes: Improper cooling procedures and improper cold holding.

The Jalapeno Grill, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick (35 red, 5 blue)

Notes: Raw meat improperly stored, improper cooling procedures, food worker cards not 100%.

Passed inspections

Circle K (deli), 104 S. Washington St., Kennewick (25 red, 0 blue)

Circle K (store), 104 S. Washington St., Kennewick (0 red, 0 blue)

Dan’s Market, 424 S. Gum St., Kennewick (10 red, 0 blue)

Del Taco, 155 Wellsian Way, Richland, (15 red, 3 blue)

Domino’s Pizza, 101 S. Washington St., Kennewick (5 red, 5 blue)

Dutch Bros., 3 W. Columbia Drive, Kennewick (5 red, 5 blue)

Jersey Mikes Subs, 1659 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick (15 red, 0 blue)

MOD Pizza Kennewick, 1659 Columbia Center Blvd. (15 red, 0 blue)

MyFroYo, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick (15 red, 8 blue)

Pearl Tea, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick (25 red, 16 blue)

Wendy’s, 5706 Road 68, Pasco (15 red, 0 blue)