A local restaurant and bar is in the news after faring poorly on a recent health inspection.
The Riley County Health Department inspected Last Chance Saloon, 1213 Moro St., on April 8 in an unannounced visit. The establishment was found to have nine critical violations, according to a report on the Kansas Department of Agriculture Web site. A follow-up inspection administered on April 13 found two critical violations, both of which were corrected on site.
Some of the violations included in the original inspection were wall-mounted vegetable and potato slicers being coated in "filth," "particulate" and "residue"; wilted and brown lettuce; ribs being reheated at 139 degrees and 143 degrees when 165 degrees is the appropriate temperature; milk, black olives, pulled pork and spicy chicken being held multiple days beyond their expiration dates; the finding of approximately 20 fresh rodent droppings on service shelves that hold single service cups; the finding of two "very large" cockroaches; the hot water being turned off in the men's restroom; dressings and various meats not being labeled with dates; and two different cleaners not containing labels, among several other violations, according to a report in the Manhattan Mercury.
Pete Anderson, owner of Last Chance, said the restaurant had just lost its kitchen manager who has since been replaced. He also said Last Chance, after failures by the former professional pest company, is searching for a new company which will come in more frequently. A sink has also been installed at the outdoor bar, which was an item of concern on the April 8 inspection. A final follow-up inspection will be conducted within a month.
In the follow-up inspection available on the KDA Web site, the two critical inspections that were found were noted as being corrected on site. Those violations were: food contact clean to sight and touch, and food being safe, unadulterated and honestly presented.
Angela Kohls, inspection supervisor at the KDA, said the goal for inspections is for violations to be corrected on site.
"If there's several criticals, we always do a follow-up. If there are five critical violations or fewer and they can be corrected on site and it's a permanent fix, we don't do a reinspection," she said. "There's some parameters for the staff as far as whether everything is corrected on site, and if there are five critical violations or fewer, then they don't need to do a follow-up. Anything else results in a follow-up investigation.
"Our goal is that everything is corrected on site, while we are there. We work with them to ensure compliance."
The restaurant inspection is a "full establishment inspection," Kohls said. The food preparation areas, the food storage areas, bathrooms, kitchen area, a quick check of the dining area and a separate chemical room, if it exists, are examined during a standard inspection.
Doug Powell, food safety expert and associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, said maintaining a clean and sanitary environment is crucial to having a healthy population.
"We don't want people barfing after they go out," he said.
Powell said that a shortcoming of restaurant inspections is they are just a "snapshot in time."
"It's a tool to keep the managers of these places on their toes," he said. "By publishing in the local paper and on the state Web site, that's a way to let people know. For people who care, they can vote with their pocket books where they will spend their food dollars."
Anderson said dealing with the inspections and the media coverage they cause has served as a learning process.
"Dealing with inspections you learn more every year — it's a learning process," he said. "This is part of everyday life. A lot of things sound a lot worse than they are.
"The health inspector came in, and she left on good terms with no threats of being shut down. Sometimes when things appear in the paper, they look more severe than they are."
Last Chance violations April 8, 13
http://www.ksda.gov/winwam2/
http://www.ksda.gov/winwam2/
Violations at the other Rusty's Bars
http://www.ksda.gov/winwam2/
is a member of the 
12 comments
YOU are false information... and a moron.
The health inspectors know what they are talking about, especially when being quoted in writing.