KDHE cites Cimarron restaurant for food code violations

    The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has notified the owners of the Blue Jay restaurant in Cimarron that they could be fined $1,000 for violations of the state food code, the agency announced Wednesday.
    According to a copy of the order notifying restaurant owners Gary and Sandy Schadegg of the fine, a KDHE agent inspected the restaurant on May 15 and May 28 and documented several violations, including:
    • The license holder failed to demonstrate knowledge of ways to prevent foodborne diseases, principles of food safety and the requirements of the state food code.
    • A restaurant employee failed to clean his or her hands during food preparation as often as necessary to remove soil and contamination and to prevent cross-contamination when changing tasks.
    • The restaurant had food that was obtained from an unapproved source.
    • Employees' bare hands came into contact with ready-to-eat food.
    • The restaurant failed to adequately protect stored foods.
    • The restaurant failed to label ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous food with a "consume-by" date.
    • The restaurant failed to discard foods that were held past their labeled "consume-by" date.
    The fine applies only to two violations: An employee's failure to wash her hands during food preparation, and an instance when the employee's bare hands came into contact with ready-to-eat food.
    The agent's May 15 visit to the Blue Jay was a routine inspection, and the May 28 visit was a follow-up to the first one, said KDHE spokesman Mike Heideman.
    Heideman said whenever an inspector documents repeated food code violations at a restaurant, the agency will assess a fine against the license holder.
    "These are violations of regulations that are designed to protect the public from foodborne illness," he said. "And so from that perspective, we take them seriously."
    The Blue Jay's owners, Gary and Sandy Schadegg, have until July 17 to either pay the fine or file a notice of appeal.
    Heideman said that KDHE had not received either the fine or a notice of appeal as of late Wednesday afternoon.
    In a phone interview, Sandy Schadegg said one of the violations for which the restaurant may be fined occurred because an employee had taken her gloves off and touched a piece of toast with her little finger. She said the second violation occurred because the same employee had taken off her gloves and reached for a plate but had not done anything with it.
    "After visiting with the previous health inspector and our lawyer, we've decided to appeal that because those are two very incidental ones," Schadegg said. "I mean, it's not like there was anything bad. I feel like we have one of the cleanest and best eating establishments around."
   
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or e-mail him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.