Food for Thought: Two Knoxville restaurants fail health inspection

Two area restaurants scored failing health inspection grades this week and a third restaurant received a score in the low 70s.

The violations recorded on the health reports this week could potentially lead to foodborne illness outbreaks. The inspectors did a lot of on the spot training. A grade below 70 is considered "unsanitary" by the health department.

Pelancho's Mexican Grill at 1516 Downtown West Blvd near West Town Mall received a 62. The inspector found employees not aware of the five symptoms of illness. They're supposed to know them so they don't come to work ill.

The inspector writes cooks were not wearing gloves as they were handling ready-to-eat food. Gloves are required. Cut tomatoes and salsa were not at the proper temperature of 41 degrees and the inspector found the manager was not aware of proper reheating procedures for hot food.

Now, Pelancho's Mexican at Downtown West has been re-inspected. The original grade of 62 is now a 92.

A 63 is the next lowest health inspection grade scored at Scott's Deli and Ice Cream on Chapman Highway.

Some fresh cut produce at Scott's Deli was at 60 degrees. 41 and below is the safe cool temperature to slow bacteria growth. The inspector found tamales coming from an unapproved source. The tamales were thrown away.

When your table is wiped clean, the cloth used to clean the table is supposed to come from a bucket with sanitizer in it. No disinfectant was in the bucket at Scott's Deli. Finally, an employee was observed sipping a drink with an open cup at the food preparation area, it had no top on it which is required to prevent accidents.

Next, lowest health inspection grade is a 73 at the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant at West Town Mall. That's a passing score, here are the critical violations.

The inspector writes the cook did not wash his hands, as required, after touching raw hamburger meat and putting his gloves on. The cook put together a sandwich with his bare hands, but he should have been wearing gloves. Some jugs of milk had no date marks on them. A date of "first use" is required so freshness is not a guessing game.

There's been a follow-up inspection at the Cheesecake Factory, the original grade of 73 is now a 98.

This week there are a dozen excellent health inspection grades.

Here at the top scores:

• Kib Kab Deli, 7780 Oak Ridge Hwy, 100
• Sonic, 7816 Oak Ridge Hwy, 100
• The Casual Pint, 234 Brookview Center Way, 100
• The Lunch Box, 1225 E. Weisgarber Rd, 100
• Domino's Pizza, 3613 Sutherland Ave, 100
• Froyoz, 6631 Clinton Hwy, 100
• Duck Donuts, 6104 Kingston Pike, 100
• The Egg and I, 5018 Kingston Pike, 98
• Wendy's, 11136 Kingston Pike, 98
• McDonald's, 7036 Kingston Pike, 98
• Subway, 3-05 Alcoa Highway, 98
• Papa John's, 2901 Tazewell Pike, 98