Sugar Island Jerk, a newly opened restaurant in Snellville, has had early problems getting its employees use to food safety procedures and failed its first two inspections.
The Caribbean restaurant at 3400 Centerville Highway opened last month. It scored a 59/U on Oct. 12, then a 64/U on a follow-up inspection Oct. 18.
Manager Doug Isidore said some of his employees have poor food safety habits, then they get nervous when the inspector shows up and make mental mistakes. Gwinnett County’s health inspector recommended Isidore have a staff meeting to address gaps in food safety training and practices.
During the latest inspection, employees were careless when handling food without washing their hands between glove changes. And a cutting board and knife used in the prep area were rinsed but not sanitized before using.
Among other violations, raw fish fillets and raw beef steaks were stored together in the same metal pan. Though both were wrapped separately, fluid from fish and steaks leaked out and caused cross-contamination of bacteria. The two cannot be stored together, and the beef should be placed below the fish in the cooler, the inspector noted.
Some food prepared the day before had to be discarded because it was not cooled within the proper time and temperature limits to prevent bacteria growth.
Sugar Island Jerk will be re-inspected within the next two weeks.
A recently featured restaurant, Haven, 1441 Dresden Drive, Atlanta, brought its score back up to an A, earning a 99 on a follow-up inspection last week.
Here are other recent inspection scores from area restaurants.
Cobb County
DeKalb County
Fulton County
Gwinnett County
Rockdale County
– by Laura Berrios for the Food & More blog
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