Rodent issues, moldy vegetables found in South Florida meat market

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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – An inspector with the Florida Department of Agriculture ordered management at House of Meats in Goulds to stop using their back storage room after rodent activity was discovered Tuesday.

House of Meats is located at 11639 SW 216th St. 

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The inspector ordered storage areas to be completely cleared of all merchandise, cleaned and sanitized by the next inspection.

According to the report obtained by Local 10 News, no other merchandise may be added to the storage area until there is a re-inspection. 

If evidence of a pest infestation is observed on the next inspection, a Stop-Use Order will be issued on all receiving areas of the establishment and the establishment will no longer be allowed to receive additional food items.

Below are some of the violations found by the inspector on Tuesday.

There will be a re-inspection within 14 days.

"Backroom- apparent rodent droppings found on floor throughout backroom storage. The affected storage areas must be completely cleared of all merchandise, cleaned and sanitized by the next inspection; no other merchandise may be added to the storage area or a broken stop-use will be issued."

"Backroom- floors with food debris, dirt and dust accumulation."

"Meat processing- boxes of frozen chicken found thawing in ambient temperature on pallet near walk-in freezer. Packs of beef ribs found thawing in ambient temperature in ware wash sink without running water. Cos-person in charge relocated chicken and meat ribs to walk in cooler."

"Meat processing- various types of food processing equipment (two band-saws, tabletop meat grinder, deli meat slicer, meat slicer, meat tenderizer, and large meat grinder in walk-in cooler) found with yellow encrusted old food residue. Cos- employees washed, rinsed and sanitized all food processing equipment during the inspection."

"Meat processing- ice machine observed with black mold-like residue near ice dispenser chute and on interior walls to ice bin. Cos, ice machine was cleaned properly during the inspection, checked by inspector. "

"Retail- plum tomato observed with black mold-like spots in produce shelf. Cos- person in charge voluntarily destroyed food product, checked by inspector."

"Meat processing- multiple employees did not wash hands between various tasks (handling meat between species, slicing raw meat, and before donning gloves to engage in slicing ready-to-eat lunch meat items)."


About the Author:

Jeff Weinsier joined Local 10 News in September 1994. He is currently an investigative reporter for Local 10. He is also responsible for the very popular Dirty Dining segments.