Rodent Droppings, 15 Health Violations Cited at Tucson Restaurant

Rodent droppings were found at a local restaurant.Photo byslyfox photographyonUnsplash

It’s difficult to know what to expect from Tucson restaurant health inspectors. Some inspections follow protocol, while there are others that appear, at times, to go rogue (citing restaurants for violations that aren’t violations, for example). It is always important to dig a bit deeper into health reports to read through the identified problems. For one local restaurant though, with a whopping 15 citations found during its most recent inspection, it is necessary to make immediate improvements.

On July 2, Bamboo Terrace Restaurant, located at 1754 West Ajo Way was visited by a health inspector for its annual inspection. The first noted issue was the inspector watched an employee drinking water while wearing gloves, but then they did not discard the gloves and instead returned to working on food. The inspector instructed the worker to remove the gloves and wash their hands before continuing. 

Continuing with hand washing problems, an employee was found washing their hands in the prep sink. The Person In Charge (PIC) was told that the prep sink should only be used for food and that all hand washing should be done in one of the specified hand-washing sinks in the kitchen.

The chlorine dishwashing fluid used to clean and sanitize dishes was found to be significantly lower than the 50 to 100 PPM (parts per million). The instructor told the employee to re-wash everything with the correct PPM chlorine level. During the inspection, a repair contractor stopped by to service the dishwasher and correct the PPM level. This indicated the restaurant had contacted the technician before the inspection (though this was not included in the inspector’s notes).

The restaurant had been working to address the rodent problem previously by contacting a local pest control service provider. However, a gap under the fire exit door had yet to be repaired and was likely the entrance point for the rodent(s).

The big problem came when the health inspector found rodent droppings in various locations around the restaurant. This included near the meat slicer and next to ready-to-use cups, as well as by the microwave. Additional droppings were found inside of a box used to store water pitchers. 

There were problems with proper cold temperature control, which is one of the most common violations found in restaurants. Anything stored within a walk-in cooler or refrigerator must not exceed 41 degrees. Anything above this falls into a food “danger zone”, which allows the growth of bacteria. Despite this, cooked noodles, tofu, and pork were tested at 46 degrees, while chopped cabbage had a 62-degree temperature.