The Venezuelan fast food restaurant, Zuarepa, was flagged again for keeping its ice cream cooler open to customers in the dining room during a recent health inspection. Since the ice cream is not self-serve, the cooler should be closed to protect against contamination.

The restaurant’s homemade desserts were also in violation because they were from an unauthorized source.

Zuarepa, 1956 Duluth Highway, Lawrenceville, failed Monday’s routine inspection with a 52/U.

Among other violations, several food items were stored incorrectly and not protected from cross-contamination. Raw beef was above cooked pork in a cooler, and frozen beef empanadas and fish empanadas were above frozen plantains. Raw bacon was above fully cooked sausage in another cooler.

Employees had phones, drinks and food in the prep areas, and one employee didn’t change gloves after using the phone and returning to food service.

Cooked burgers and heavy whipping cream were not at safe temperatures in a cooler. These were discarded. Multiple food items were without dates or had incorrect dates. Also, numerous bulk food containers were on a dry storage closet floor, a second repeat routine violation.

Zuarepa will be re-inspected.

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