Disclaimer: The August 2007 list is what Contact 5 used to craft their investigation. The "Disciplinary Activity Report" contains the restaurants on the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s list.
Reported by: Shannon Cake
Photographer: Jim Sitton
Producer: Israel Perez
In our series of reports, we have shown you conditions that could make your stomach turn.
So why isn't the state insisting that these restaurants clean up their kitchens?
Shannon Cake took that question to those in charge of the restaurant inspection system in Tallahassee.
In the heart of the state’s political Mecca, where laws are passed presumably to protect you, sits an agency that’s supposed to make sure what you’re eating inside Florida’s restaurants is clean and safe.
Yet when Contact 5 went dining undercover we found things like dead roaches, flies, and poultry dangling on a hook—exposed to the South Florida heat.
Florida Division of Restaurants Director, Bill Veach says those kinds of problems are unacceptable.
“This is a very big deal, not only to our citizens but to our visitors to Florida, and that’s very important to the state,” Veach said.
Contact 5 was also invited inside kitchens with retired state inspector, Roy Costa.
Costa pointed out other serious sanitation problems like storing utensils in standing water and breeding grounds for pests.
“That leads directly to food-borne illness,” Costa said.“You expect bacteria to be growing in there.”
So when it comes to the state’s restaurant inspection system, you’re probably asking yourself one question:
Does the system work?
It’s the same question Contact 5 asked Restaurant head, Bill Veach.
“Well it works, is it perfect? No,” Veach said.
The inspection system was less than perfect two years ago. In 2005, Contact 5 exposed filthy conditions inside popular restaurants where you and your family eat.
Palm Beach County and Florida lawmakers responded to our reports and in 2007 passed an ordinance that requires all restaurants in Palm Beach County to post a sign that reads, “Latest food inspection report available upon request.”
The required notices are just now being posted---creating transparency in places typically closed to the public.
“We’re the only county in the state that has been as proactive as this and we feel really good about what we’ve been able to do so far,” said Todd Bonlarron, the lawyer for Palm Beach County.
By posting the required signs, Palm Beach County has legally gone as far as it can and says it’s up to the state to crack down.
Shannon: “In your opinion, how clean are Florida’s restaurants?”
Veech: “In my opinion, Florida restaurants are as clean as they are any anywhere. Our industry and our inspectors do a top-flight job of really educating the industry.”
Florida law requires state inspectors to visit every single restaurant at least two times a year.
Veach says his team only meets the “2-visit-a-year” minimum about 80 percent of the time. He says staffing is the problem, and getting money from lawmakers to hire and train new inspectors isn’t easy.
Roy Costa says sanitation in restaurants should be a priority to restaurant owners and patrons.
“There’s not a culture of food safety being built here,” Costa said.
At El Chapin restaurant in Palm Springs kitchen managers let our cameras and Mr. Costa take a tour inside.
State records show El Chapin Restaurant has been cited 27 times this year for violations the state calls “critical.”
Costa quickly spotted things like:
- Incorrect storage of potentially hazardous food.
- Soiled cloths that should be in a hamper.
- Cooking utensils stored on the floor.
But most dangerous, according to Costa, was the storage of some raw meat. The meat was being stored above ready-to-eat vegetables.
“If the juice drips down onto the salad items it could carry e-coli or salmonella,” Costa said. “This is the type of thing that leads to food-borne illness right here.”
Across town at China Tokyo in Wellington state inspectors cited owners for multiple cases of roaches last summer.
The owner gave Contact 5 and Roy Costa a tour of his kitchen. After pointing out several problems with pests we concluded not much had changed there.
So back in Tallahassee, we showed Mr. Veach some of the video we collected to get his response.
Shannon: “Looking at an example like this, how can we say the system is working?”
Veach: I guess my answer to you would be, if this is one that had fallen through the cracks, then we’d wanna look at that. I’m not sure it is, but certainly the possibility exists that there’s one or two or more bad operators out there.”
Veach says they are doing all they can to tighten up the inspection system in Florida. Last year, his department cited restaurants for violations to the tune of almost $3 million in fines.
“The problem that we have Shannon is that we come in twice a year… we’re talking about a snapshot. We cannot be there everyda
