Which Merced-area restaurants failed health inspections in April? See the results
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Health inspectors for Merced County visited more than 80 restaurants, markets and other food businesses over the month of April, and while most passed muster with “good” ratings, more than a handful received failing scores.
Out of 81 inspections, eight received “unsatisfactory” ratings last month.
That’s a modest improvement from February and March, when 11 businesses failed their inspections in each month.
The county gives “good” ratings to businesses with six or fewer violation points, “satisfactory” ratings for seven to 13 violation points, and “unsatisfactory” ratings for 14 or more violation points. Fourteen food businesses received satisfactory marks, and 59 received “good” scores — including 26 where no violation points were assessed.
Five businesses that had received failing scores in their previous inspections managed to improve their ratings in follow-up health inspection visits last month.
A1 Step & Save, a convenience store on Mercey Springs Road at Overland Avenue in Los Banos, accumulated almost 40 violation points in an April 23 inspection — the most points assessed in the month, and the highest number of points for any business inspected since early December. Among the most serious violations spotted during the inspection was a lack of sanitizer or testing strips for the dishwashing sink in the kitchen, as well as missing drain plugs for the sink. Sponges were also spotted left in the sink, potentially harboring contamination of cleaned cookware.
Other issues at the store included a buildup of rust and mold that was dripping onto ice that was to be bagged and sold; an inoperable handwashing sink in the employee restroom; and rodent droppings on a shelf next to pre-packaged chips.
Other businesses with unsatisfactory ratings were:
Los Banos: Julianna’s Bakery Inc. on Sixth Street, 32 violation points from an April 26 inspection; Santa Fe Foods on Sixth Street, 26 points from an April 17 inspection; the Merced County Behavioral Health Services center on West G Street, 17 points in an April 5 inspection; and La Michoacana Market on Sixth Street, 14 points from an April 18 inspection.
Merced: Valley Community School on Wardrobe Avenue, 14 points from an April 22 inspection; and Mr. Pho on North Highway 59, 16 points from an April 18 inspection.
Turlock: Oasis Market and Liquor on Lander Avenue, 27 points from an April 23 inspection.
Several food establishments that previously received unsatisfactory ratings following inspections in February or March raised their ratings to either satisfactory or good in their April reinspection visits.
Those included:
The Iris Garrett Juvenile Justice Complex on Sandy Mush Road in Merced, which received 17 violation points in a March 27 visit but pulled in a good rating with no violation points on April 17.
La Morenita Restaurant No. 4 in Livingston, which followed up 19 violation points on Feb. 20 with an April 9 reinspection that yielded only three points and a good rating.
Livingston Gas and Grocery in Livingston, with 10 points and a satisfactory rating on April 9, following an unsatisfactory score of 14 points on Feb. 23.
Applebee’s on West Olive Avenue in Merced, which had an unsatisfactory score of 27 violation points on March 4 but achieved a good score of five points on April 5.
Orient Market in Atwater, where an unsatisfactory score of 15 points on Feb. 1 was followed up in an April 5 inspection that yielded a good rating with no violation points.
Merced County’s Environmental Health Division maintains a database of restaurant and food inspections online for public viewing at its web page, www.countyofmerced.com/597/Environmental-Health; click the “Food Inspections” tab along the left side of the page.
