Wendy’s restaurant at the Ayer rotary is addressing health concerns posed by the Board of Health. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Faced with the threat of closure due to several critical violations found by the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health, the Wendy’s restaurant at the Ayer rotary has taken steps toward remediation and has developed plans for re-education of employees, improvements in communication, and equipment upgrades.
Wendy’s woes started on May 9 when Mary Spinner of the Ayer Board of Health received a call about sewage backing up from floor drains at the eatery. The restaurant closed voluntarily while it took care of the problem. Nashoba Associated Boards of Health district food inspector Bridgette Braley, who is also the health agent for the town of Ayer, reported the critical violation the same day. Re-inspecting two hours later, she saw that the problem had been corrected.
On Monday, July 7, Braley received an anonymous e-mail from someone claiming to be a Wendy’s employee, complaining about “lack of attention to meat temperature,” alleging that meat was “slimy to the touch—and yet it is not discarded or moved to the walk-in fridge.”
The anonymous source wrote “most workers do not wash hands in between tasks… [and] proper facilities for employee hand-washing have not been in operation since last Friday….The large floor drain used to dispose of cleaning solutions as well as gallons of grease has been blocked since last Friday.”
The restaurant was summarily closed that same day after NABH inspector Kalene Garbarz cited Wendy’s for six critical violations: improper hot and cold holding temperatures for food, uncovered food, lack of paper towels and a slow-draining sink at the rear hand-wash area, and a lack of hot water in the hand-washing area. (Washroom water temperature should range between 110 and 130°.) Garbarz also noted, “Observed employee taking out trash, sweeping, general cleaning; did not wash hands after dumpster use.”
Garbarz conducted another inspection on July 22 and found three critical violations: an unclean meat station, improper temperatures for lettuce and mayonnaise, and hamburger meat insufficiently chilled. She noted that “a faint sewer smell at drain” was still present.
Three days later Garbarz found four critical violations: no hot water at the rear hand-washing station, slow-draining sinks (a note said that the plumber has been called), the meat station with hamburger at improper temperature, and a leak in the ceiling near the Frosty machine, creating a slipping hazard. Garbarz notified the district manager. The restaurant’s own log book shows swings in meat station temperatures ranging from 38° to 54° between July 20 and July 24. (Meat must be stored at 30 to 38° Fahrenheit.)
After these four problematic inspections, NABH director Jim Garreffi wrote to Gail Barnes, Wendy’s director of area operations, at the Westford headquarters on July 31, “This office has noted a number of serious violations, some of which have been noted on repeated inspections. Our concern is that the serious nature of the violations and their repeated occurrence pose a potential public health hazard.”
He asked for assurances that these problems would be remedied, and for her presence at the Aug. 11 administrative hearing before the Ayer Board of Health.
The letter went on to say, “The goal of the…hearing is to review your plans to be in compliance with state and federal food codes.”
Remediation
An assured Barnes told the Ayer health board and Garreffi on Aug. 11 that Wendy’s is back to operating, with safeguards in place.
Joined by northeast region Facilities Director Mike McGill, she went to great length describing the remediation plan: new mixing valves installed Aug. 3 to properly control hot and cold water; a new tankless hot water system installed on July 14 to counteract the effects of a “power soak system” that was depleting hot water supplies; a “fail-safe” communications plan with one-on-one phone calls, as well as a computerized system that reports the precise equipment problem, sets the priority, and generates the proper technical response from either internal technicians or vendors; and “counseling on food safety escalation procedures [retraining of all employees].”
Wendy’s policy on follow-up procedures to an NABH inspection now requires restaurant management to read the report over the phone to district manager Tracy Dorsey and to fax a copy to Barnes herself.
Referring to issues raised in the anonymous e-mail complaint, Barnes explained that, in some situations, the restaurant has had to resort to a fast, easy, and effective way to chill meat—ice it in a tray. Some employees did not know how to access the computerized problem-communication system, she said, but have been re-trained.
“We now check the [meat] temperatures every hour,” said Barnes, even though the standard is every four hours. “We’ll continue until we have the proper confidence level.”
Barnes said she learned only recently that Ayer restaurant employees must wash their hands every 15 minutes—“a challenge for the 16 employees there,” she noted.
Commenting on the May sewage issue, Barnes said the backup had been caused by something that had been flushed down the toilet in the ladies room, and offered assurances that the sewerage system was working properly.
Garreffi said that, while state regulations require an inspection twice a year by his agency, he wants one done monthly for a year.
“We welcome them,” said Barnes. While she said that disciplinary action has been taken with the managers in the store, she could not discuss the matter any further. The remaining employees “take this situation very seriously,” she added.
“We’ll always do the right thing as long as we know what it is,” concluded Barnes.
