Five yellow food safety alerts posted in Champaign-Urbana this week

Yahoo

21-03-2025

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — Five businesses in the Champaign-Urbana area received yellow food safety alerts in the last seven days.
LAST WEEK: Three yellow food safety alerts posted in Champaign Co. this week
On March 13, the Champaign Country Club, located at 1211 S. Prospect Ave. in Champaign, received a yellow food safety alert. An inspector found two risk factor/intervention violations and one repeat risk factor/intervention violation.
For the third time in a row, the country club struggled to keep foods at a cold enough temperature. Corned beef was found at 53.6°F and coleslaw was held at 50.1°F inside a two-door cooler. Diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, cut romaine lettuce, ranch, cut melons and a half and half were also found at a higher temperature than is safe. All items were brought to a walk-in cooler for rapid cooling.
The inspector also found that ricotta cheese, lamb sauce, hummus, shallot butter, Caesar dressing and bom bom sauce were held past seven days. All of these items were discarded.
A follow-up inspection was scheduled to be completed within 5-7 business days to make sure that the long-term corrections were completed.
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On March 18, Szechuan Taste, located at 707 S. Sixth St. in Champaign received a yellow food safety alert. An inspector found six risk factor/intervention violations and four repeat risk factor/intervention violations.
For the third time in a row, the restaurant had surfaces/utensils that were not clean to 'sight and touch.' In this inspection, there were two knives which had dried meat on their blades from the previous day. The cooks had begun food preparation, and the knives had not been sent back to the dish area. The inspector also noted a knife near the sushi area which had food debris on its blade from the previous day.
For the second time in a row, there was an issue with how the restaurant cooled the cooked foods. In this inspection, there was a rack of 12 cooked ducks, sitting between 72°F to 74°F. They had been left to cool in the kitchen instead of a walk-in cooler. The inspector also found two containers of cooked pig feet, sitting at 68°F in the walk-in cooler. It was from the previous day but had not cooled down to 41°F. All of these items were thrown away.
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Other issues the inspector noted included an industrial sprayer with oven cleaner stored next to clean dishes in the dish area, an open can of 'Sterno' ethanol chafing fuel stored next to clean dishes, scoops stored in 72°F stagnant water and boxes and containers of food stored on the floor in the walk-in freezer.
A follow-up inspection will be done in 5-7 business days to make sure the corrections have been completed.
On March 18, Pho Noodle Station, located at 601 S. Sixth St. in Champaign, received a yellow food safety alert. An inspector found five risk factor/intervention violations and one repeat risk factor/intervention violation.
For the third inspection in a row, Pho Noodle Station struggled to keep their food cold enough. Raw shrimp was held at 50.5°F and raw meat was held between 43.7°F and 44.6°F in the reach-in cooler. There were also cooked and cooled noodles sitting out at 45°F. The noodles were marked with a sticker stating that they should be thrown out at 2 p.m. But the restaurant is not approved to use time as a 'Public Health Control.'
Other issues the inspector noted included cases of food stored on the floor of the walk-in freezer, and the fried egg in the 'topping' side of the menu did not have an asterisk leading to a footnote at the bottom of the menu, as is required with FDA food code. The restaurant is required to provide corrected menus by April 1.
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A follow-up inspection will be done in 5-7 business days to ensure the corrections have been made.
On March 18, Bap Plus Korean Restaurant, located at 700 S. Gregory St. in Urbana, received a yellow food safety alert. An inspector found five risk factor/intervention violations and one repeat risk factor/intervention violation.
For the third time in a row, the inspector found that poisonous or toxic materials were stored incorrectly. In this inspection, two spray bottles of cleaner were stored next to opened plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and a bag of crushed pepper powder on a cart.
And, for the second time in a row, the restaurant did not use proper cooling methods. There were two pans of raw, breaded fish sitting between 45.5° to 48.4°F in the walk-in cooler. The fish were in containers that were deeper than four inches and tightly lidded. The health department said that this is an ineffective cooling method and threw the fish away.
Other issues the inspector noted included raw chicken stored over uncovered containers of noodles and raw onion, raw fish containers stacked on top of a container of pickled radish, and two spray bottles were not labeled with the 'common name' of the chemical they contained.
A follow-up inspection will be done in 5-7 business days to ensure the corrections have been made.
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On March 19, Signature Grill, located at 505 E Green St. in Champaign, received a yellow food safety alert. An inspector found five risk factor/intervention violations and one repeat risk factor/intervention violation.
For the third time in a row, Signature Grill had an issue with keeping some of their food items at cold enough temperatures. An inspector found a pan of rice sitting at 45°F, an open container of half-n-half at 60°F, and a potato dish at 48°F.
Other issues the inspector noted included employees putting on gloves before washing their hands or not washing their hands before removing old gloves and putting on new ones, the hand sink near the food prep area was not stocked with soap, and dead insects on the sticky insect traps above the mop sink.
A follow-up inspection will be done in 5-7 business days to ensure the corrections have been made.
To see other restaurant inspections in Champaign County, click here.
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