School administrators have to eat too. And when they don’t brown-bag it, they have their own cafeterias. When Fairfax County Public Schools employees get together at their Falls Church headquarters, they might dine at Gatehouse Cafe on the administration’s first floor.
The cafeteria was last inspected on March 30, and was hit with five violations of the county health code — two critical. The cleaning solution used to disinfect countertops and utensils was diluted to one-fourth the chemical concentration it should be, weakening its power to kill bacteria and keep food clean.
The health inspector also observed that dishes being washed in the sink were not properly sanitized.
And there was no thermometer in the freezer, so health inspectors were not sure whether food was stored properly. Condiments were “not protected from contamination,” and milk crates were improperly used as shelving.
At Montgomery County Public Schools’ administration building in Rockville, the cafeteria earned one critical error and six breaches of “good retail practices.” Health inspectors indicated problems with the cooling time and temperature of “potentially hazardous food.”
An inspector also took issue with unlabeled bulk food bins, improperly labeled muffins, and a residential grill being used to cook scrambled eggs in the morning. Three of the cafeteria’s thermometers were not reading accurately, and cardboard boxes were reused to store clean equipment.
D.C. Public Schools doesn’t have a cafeteria in its Northeast headquarters — so the several-day power outage earlier this month didn’t wreak havoc on food stock.
