CHLOE KOWALYK
Managing Editor
Graphic by NICOLE THORSON | Staff Artist.
Have you ever wondered how your favorite dining hall would do in a health inspection?
Chautauqua County completes frequent food service inspections of local and corporate restaurants in the county, including SUNY Fredonia’s on-campus dining locations.
These include dining halls, cafes and other food service establishments. A breakdown of all inspection dates and discoveries are described below:
Cranston Marche was last inspected on Dec. 2, 2022 and received two violations.
The first was under Item 8E in which “accurate thermometers [are] not available or used to evaluate refrigerated or heated storage temperatures.”
The second was under Item 11A in which “manual facilities [are] inadequate, technique incorrect; mechanical facilities not operated in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.”
FSA’s Cafe McEwen was inspected on Dec. 12, 2022 and Cafe Mason was inspected on Dec. 14, 2022.
Neither faced any violations.
Willy C’s received two violations: one under Item 15A: “floors, walls, ceilings, not smooth, properly constructed, in disrepair, dirty surfaces;” the other under Item 15B: “lighting and ventilation inadequate, fixtures not shielded, dirty ventilation hoods, ductwork, filters, exhaust fans.”
Although a little different from dining halls, the concession stands on campus have also been inspected.
According to FSA Executive Director Darin Schulz, the concession stands on campus, called “Breakaway” and “Time Out,” were not in operation during the first year of the pandemic in 2020. The next year, they were operated by Fredonia Athletics. In Fall 2022, FSA took back the responsibility.
Since the last time they were inspected, both faced critical red violations. Critical red violations are those which are more severe.
Breakaway was inspected on Oct. 19, 2022. A critical red violation was found under Item 2E in which “accurate thermometers [are] not available or used to evaluate potentially hazardous food temperatures during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.” The concession stand also faced a critical red violation under Item 6A, in which “potentially hazardous foods are not kept at or above 140 degrees Fahrenheit during hot holding.”
Time Out was last inspected four years ago on Dec. 27, 2019, prior to the pandemic under FSA’s operation. It also received a critical red violation under Item 6A described above. In addition, Time Out faced an additional violation under Item 12E: “handwashing facilities inaccessible, improperly located, dirty, in disrepair, improper fixtures, soap, and single service towels or hand drying devices missing.”
According to Schulz, these violations occurred during the transitional period between FSA and Fredonia Athletics. He added that those violations were “corrected on the spot.”
Schulz and Dean Messina, the Director of Dining Services, released a statement. The statement said, “The Faculty Student Association Fredonia is very proud of its long tradition of quality service at all dining venues across SUNY Fredonia. The most recent round of inspections by the Chautauqua County Department of Health [CCDOH] underscores our employees’ pride in their work. In its most recent visit to campus, the CCDOH once again reported no critical violations or public health hazards at any FSA dining facility. Going back 25 years, any critical issue that was cited was corrected on the spot. The few non-critical violations found by inspectors on recent visits were for extremely minor issues, such as a crack in a floor tile or a thermometer in the wrong location. All these non-critical errors were corrected immediately in front of the inspector or resolved within hours. All of our dining services managers and union cooks participate in Servsafe training. While some food establishments may dread a visit from health inspectors, FSA welcomes them to examine the high quality of service we have – and will continue to provide.”
The date for the next inspections is unknown. A list of the inspections for all food service establishments in the county can be found here: https://chqgov.com/environmental-health/chautauqua-county-food-service-inspections.