A cooler at an Olive Garden in McDonough wasn’t working properly during a recent inspection and some of the appetizers were at elevated temperatures, a Henry County health inspector said.
Other food items were unprotected from contamination during prepping, leading to a failing health score for the restaurant at 1961 Jonesboro Road.
This was the second time the restaurant had elevated temperature readings among potentially hazardous foods, according to the report. Cooked stuffed mushrooms in two different coolers were out of temperature range, and cheese balls and fresh tomato pesto were also at unsafe temperatures.
Points were also taken off because employees were not washing their hands between tasks and not protecting food during prepping.
The inspector said an employee was handling raw scallops then switching to ready-to-eat foods without washing hands. And there was no hand-washing prior to putting on gloves for other employees.
The inspector said raw and cooked foods were not being separated during preparation. An employee at the grill used the same utensil to handle cooked and raw shrimp, and an employee was prepping raw scallops next to ready-to-eat ravioli and shredded cheese.
Another employee was washing parsley over tomatoes that had already been washed.
Olive Garden scored 55/U after having previous health scores of 82/B and 87/B.
In other code violations, the current inspection report was not posted where it could easily be seen by customers. The report was posted on the bar station wall around a corner from the hostess desk.
Olive Garden will be re-inspected. [Editor's Note: Olive Garden passed the follow-up inspection with 100/A.]
In other news: Hudson Grille Tucker, 2075 Northlake Parkway, Tucker, scored 87/B on its follow-up inspection.
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