Fast-food haunts get low grades from Health Dept.

Words of caution to Winston-Salem students: Check the sanitation score of your favorite fast food restaurant before ordering.
The five most popular restaurants frequented by WSSU students are Bojangles, Burger King, McDonald's, Church's Chicken and No. 1 Chinese Restaurant.
Environmental health specialist, Tony Williams, is assigned to inspect all  of these eating places.
According to Forsyth County's Department of Public Health, food service establishments including restaurants and fast food businesses are inspected at a frequency determined by menu complexity and the population served.

"When we inspect we look for different aspects like making sure employees that are preparing foods are washing their hands," Williams said.
"We look at employee health; the overall cleaning of the facility; any damages that need to be repaired; equipment functioning; and food temperatures.
"We do our visits unannounced, so when we walk into a restaurant that's our opportunity to see them in operation."
Williams said inspectors want to set a good example when they enter restaurants. So he introduces himself first and then washes his hands.
There are four risk categories with a corresponding inspection frequency.
Risk Category I establishments are inspected once per year and do not serve potentially hazardous foods. These are most often bars or coffee shops that use reusable cups or drinking glasses.
Risk Category II establishments are inspected twice per year and have limited menus with simple food preparation procedures.
Risk Category III establishments are inspected three times a year and have more complex menus. They refrigerate foods to be reheated and served at a later time.
Risk Category IV establishments are inspected four times a year and have the most complex menus that involve cooking, cooling and reheating of several foods.
Points assigned for health violations  are deducted from 100 to give a percentage score. A 2-point education credit may be added to the score, if a full-time employee has completed a food safety training class.  
The Bojangles fast food restaurant on New Walkertown Road is a Risk Category III establishment.
That restaurant was inspected twice this year; March 16 it was scored 93.5 and July 24 it was scored 90.5, a 3-point deduction within four months.
 According to the March inspection report, a manager was not wearing a hair net, utensils needed additional cleaning, cups were unprotected and the towel dispenser was not working properly.
Bojangles satisfied these requirements prior to the July inspection.
However, Williams reported new violations during the July inspection. The hot water  temperature fluctuated between 100 and 125 F; hot water is required to be maintained to 130 F.

"Also an employee was talking on the phone and went back to handling food without washing hands."
During that inspection, Williams noted shelves, cabinets, and soda dispensers needed cleaning and the outside storage needed to be organized.
Another favorite eatery among WSSU students is No. 1 Chinese Restaurant on University Parkway. That establishment  is a Risk Category IV.
Last inspected May 16, No. 1 Chinese Restaurant's sanitation score was 90.5; up 0.5 from its inspection Jan. 3.
Violations reported  during  the January inspection included food tongs stored in the same container as a scraper that was being used to remove things stuck on the floor.  Those violations  were satisfied before the May inspection.
However violations not satisfied  included containers without handles were stored with dry goods and employees' personal food containers were not labeled. Egg rolls were in green rusted wire bins. A sanitizer hand bottle was unlabeled and other hand sanitizer bottles were labeled as window cleaner.
The Risk Category II fast food restaurant, Burger King, on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive was inspected Aug. 2. One reason it was scored 90 was that the small walk-in freezer was leaking and dripping condensation on covered biscuits.
The inspection report noted flies  and storage items on the kitchen floor. It also reported that a thermometer was not present to check food temperatures; plastic lids, soda nozzles and lettuce spinners needed additional cleaning. And one of the employees involved in food preparation was not wearing a hair net.
Church's Chicken on New Walkertown Road, a Risk Category III establishment, was inspected twice this year. It scored 94 in  April and 94.5 in August.  
The violations reported during April inspection and not satisfied prior to the August inspection included the ice and soda machine bin needed additional cleaning; a damaged cabinet, cracked floor tiles and damaged baseboards.
Roaches were found near a sink, an unclean ice scooper was stored in a cup and the women's toilet was clogged. Another violation Williams noted was that an employee obtained water from the utensil washing area to make biscuits.
The McDonald's, about one mile from campus on MLK Jr. Drive, is a Risk Category II restaurant.  It was given a 96 score during the March 3 inspection and 93.5 on its Nov. 12 report.   
The March report included, dirty dishes were stored on the air drying racks for clean dishes; unclean refrigeration units,  utensils and paper holders. A  hand sink in the women's bathroom was not working.
These violations were repaired; however, new ones were cited in the November inspection.  Soap was not available at the hand sink in the employee dish room; tomatoes were found uncovered in a small refrigerator; an employees' food was stored above food for customers; and the employee health policy was not implemented.
Factors that influence an inspector's decision to deduct a full point from a total score is the severity of the violation or if it had been deducted on previous inspections."Using the standardized inspection form, I mark the violations restaurants have and determine if the full point value or half of the point value will be deducted from the total score," Williams said.
"So if on the previous inspection I marked a violation for some issue such as dish cleaning and then the next time I come in and the dish cleaning hasn't really improved much, then the violation would be weighted more." Letter grades are determined by the numeric score and are based on a 10-point scale. Facilities with an A have a score between 90 and 102; B grades have a score between 80 and 89.5; and C grades have a score between 70 and 79.5. If a facility is scored 70 and below, its permit is temporarily "revoked" and the facility is closed until repairs are made. When  permits are revoked, facilities must submit another permit application.
"After facilities are closed we can come in and check out the condition to see if they can reopen," Williams said.
"Critical violations need to be fixed on the spot, meaning while we're there," he said. "An example of a critical violation would be if a facility was supposed to keep foods hot [maintaining a temperature of 135 F].  And I did my temperature check and it was 112 F then it's falling below the temperature they are required to have it at," he said. "The longer food is sitting out is what we call the 'danger zone' and the more likely it is to make customers sick."
Re-inspections are made for facilities with a letter grade less than an A. When a grade less than an A is posted, the operator of the facility may request a re-inspection after the violations have been corrected.  
Tyler Tillman, senior math major from West Palm Beach, Fla., said he eats at McDonald's, Bojangles, Burger King,  frequently. "Sometimes I look at the sanitation grades, depends on how hungry I am," he said.
Williams said people may file complaints about a condition or something they feel that the Forsyth County's Department of Public Health should know about.
"We do investigate these complaints," Williams said.
Edited by Maurika Smutherman