Pittsburg bar, grill operator seeking inspection settlement

March 21, 2008 12:54 am

— By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — A bar and grill in Pittsburg faces a potential fine of $1,700, but is working on a settlement that state health officials said could reduce the penalty in connection with a dozen food-preparation and food-storage violations cited by inspectors.
JB’s Sports Bar & Grill, 516 N. Broadway, faces a civil penalty for six critical violations, including failure to provide hot water at a hand-washing sink, failure to label ready-to-eat food with a consume-by date, and failure to sanitize utensils and food-contact surfaces of equipment before use and after cleaning, according to Mike Heideman, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The bar’s owner, Gregory Bruce, of Wichita, said he has arranged for KDHE officials to come to the bar Tuesday for a training session for his staff.
“It’s my business, and it’s my responsibility that things are done in a quality way,” he said when reached on his cell phone Thursday. “As soon as I knew there were fineable offenses, I did everything I could to correct it.”
Heideman said the citations were issued when the restaurant was given its annual inspection on Dec. 19. A reinspection on Jan. 4 found that the bar still had not corrected 11 of the violations, he said.
“Typically, a business has 20 days from the date of the fine being issued to either pay or ask for an appeal hearing,” Heideman said.
An administrative order from the KDHE dated Feb. 26 issued the fine.
It alleged that the establishment had adulterated food on the premises; that employees had bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, such as hamburger buns; and that it failed to clearly label working containers used for storing poisonous or toxic materials with the common name of the materials, in relation to the December and January inspections.
Bruce said he is pursuing a settlement and hopes that the training will help his case.
“There’s nothing (in the inspection report) about finding odd substances or showing harm to the food,” he said. “There were just so many small things that added up.”