Rodent infestations and chicken that wasn’t chilled properly are two of the almost 50 health code violations found in Ohio University’s dining halls in recent years.
Each year, OU serves 3 million meals to students, according to the university’s website. Between 2007 and 2011, inspections of Ohio University’s four dining halls found 49 health code violations.
A student filed a complaint in April 2007 after observing rats outside Shively Dining Hall by a food loading dock. According to the food facility inspection report by the Athens County Health Department, baiting and trapping were done to “control the pests.”
Failing to maintain proper food temperatures was one of the most common violations at the dining halls from 2007–2011.
Potentially hazardous food temperatures must be kept out of the “danger zone” — 41 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit — because disease-causing bacteria are capable of rapidly multiplying in these temperatures, according to the department.
During an inspection completed at Shively Dining Hall in May 2011, Hannah Snider, a public health sanitarian, found chicken stored at 65 degrees, which is potentially hazardous.
Violations can be seasonal, especially when it comes to cold-holding temperatures, said Adele Hanson, a public health sanitarian at the Athens City-County Health Department.
“The temperature ranges are so tight, and you only have between three or four degrees to keep it within the cold area, and it doesn’t take much to alter it,” she said. “So if it is a hot day out, food temperatures can be offset easily.”
Throughout the four-year window of inspections at OU dining halls, 31 of the 49 violations were classified as critical.
“A critical violation may cause immediate health concerns that could result in foodborne illness, and they are corrected right on the spot while we are in the facility,” Hanson said. “A noncritical violation is something that may not immediately pose a threat like broken pieces of equipment, cleaning issues or stocking concerns.”
Critical violations generally include food not being maintained at the proper temperature, improper hand washing by employees, cross contamination issues or ill workers.
“Critical violations are not common for the amount of food that Culinary Services is dealing with, and they are very proactive on food-related issues,” Hanson said. “It is difficult to label as many things as they have, and it has been a long process to get where they are today.”
The last critical violation was found in November 2011 at Shively Dining Hall. According to the Standard Inspection Report, cooked taco salad shells were stored in a tub on the floor of the dining hall at the Fuego food bar.
“Contamination is a risk in this location,” the report reads. “Obtain another rack and place the containers on this rack.”
Hanson, who has worked in her field for 36 years, described OU Culinary Services’ record as “diligent.”
“The facilities are large, and it does take a while to inspect them, because there are so many critical control points and just so many things to check for,” Snider said. “But overall, I think that Culinary Services is very responsive, and they are always looking to correct violations."
bc822010@ohiou.edu
