Dining services at The University received its first healthinspection score below 90 in four years. With two "criticals" andseveral smaller infractions, it received a 79 on its inspectionjust before the fall semester began, said Chuck Wigington, directorof food service.
"In an area this large we should be somewhere in the 90s," hesaid.
Jason Nall, the location manager of campus dining services, saidhe would make sure the Tiger Den does not get a 79 on its healthdepartment score again. He said the scoring process is not entirelyfair.
"It's the luck of the draw with the inspector," he said.
He said there is inconsistency with the graders, and that manyof the deductions food services received should have been noted onprevious inspections.
However, there were two critical violations. The healthinspector, Terry Harney, found a dead roach by the back door andchopped sirloin meat stored at the wrong temperature.
"It's not the first dead roach in here," Nall said. Althoughthere are not hundreds of roaches in the dining area, he said wherethere is one, there are more.
He said the roaches probably come from the basement of JonesHall where there is standing water. The U of M, which is in chargeof pest control in the basement, has worked to fix the problem anddining services got those deducted points back.
Nall said the chopped sirloin meat, which was the cause of thesecond critical violation, was going to be taken off the servingarea anyway, stored at a safe temperature and used later in chilior soup.
"It would have never been served to a customer as an entree," hesaid.
Since the inspection, Nall said they have kept a log on whichtemperatures are recorded every thirty minutes to make sure thatdoesn't happen again. Some restaurants only update their logs everyfour hours.
He also said the heat lamps can be tricky because if food slidesfrom under direct light the temperature can drop a few degrees.
Despite the tiger Den's 79 score, U of M students say they arenot afraid to eat there and many say it is a safe clean place toeat.
"I'm kind of surprised," said Allison Lee, junior psychologymajor. "Odds are they're trying to make it better for nexttime."
She said she eats there almost every day and has no plans tostop.
There were other deductions not as serious as the dead roach andthe chopped sirloin, Wigington said. Some coffee stirrers were notcovered. Restaurants in the Tiger Den also had dirty sinks andtowels that weren't being used lying on the counter instead of insanitizer. Trays were also not being stored face down like they aresupposed to be.
"Coffee stirrers weren't covered. No one in town covers them butshe thought we should," Wigington said.
Nall said if a towel is not in someone's hand it should be inthe sanitizer.
However, yesterday there were several towels laying unused oncounters in the back area of the Tiger Den and one in the correctbucket, but with no sanitizer in it.
Also, yesterday at Grille Works the cardboard trays used toserve burgers, fries and other foods were laying face up. Nallfixed both problems immediately upon seeing them, but both weredeductions on the last inspection.
Freshman Psychology major Tiffany Osting said it's always reallyclean whenever she has eaten there. She also said she eats in theTiger Den almost everyday.
Graphic design major Mark Lammers said he didn't know about thescore and says he thinks it would help if there were moreinspections. "Once a year is not enough."
He said everything seems clean, and that he usually eats atSubway where he can watch the servers prepare the food. However, hesaid this might give him a false sense of security.
There are limited places a student can eat - the Tiger Den andthe University Center - which has not yet been inspected, Wigingtonsaid. The UC's current score is an 86.
Psychology major Georica Gholson said she wishes that wasn't thecase and the 79 score kind of makes her nervous.
She said she has had food poisoning before after eating at aBackyard Burger and it is not something she wants to worry abouthaving again.
