Hair in cornstarch, onions stored on floor: Horry County restaurants score low grades
A Conway restaurant and a Myrtle Beach fast-food joint both scored low during health inspections for violating cleanliness standards.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control does routine and follow-up inspections, depending on the establishment’s food processes and compliance history. DHEC conducts inspections based on what it calls a “snapshot in time” of retail food establishments’ employee behavior and preparation practices.
Horry County restaurants China Town and a Burger King location received low grades on recent inspections. Here is what inspectors found:
China Town, at 2608 Main Street in Conway, scored a 70 percent during a routine inspection Feb. 27. An inspector found hair in cornstarch and raw chicken in a bag was lying on top of cooked pork in a bag. The inspection states cooked chicken was stored in cardboard boxes that originally stored raw chicken. Mushrooms were on a table touching a “heavily soiled wiping cloth,” photos in the inspection show.
A cutting board was stored with raw chicken fat on it and utensils were unclean, according to the report. The restaurant lost additional points for not following proper cooling time and temperatures, proper cold-holding temperatures, proper cooling methods and not using approved thawing methods for ribs and shrimp. No date markings were on ready-to-eat foods, the inspection states.
A bag of onions was stored on the floor, and food was stored on the floor in the walk-in freezer, according to the inspection. Plastic grocery bags were used to store food.
Burger King, at 2391 Coastal Grand Circle in Myrtle Beach, was handed an 85 percent score after an inspector visited for a routine inspection Feb. 27. The fast-food spot lost points for not having hot water at hand sinks, having “extremely heavy” carbon build-up on baking pans and in the oven and grease build-up on the floor, the report states.
For more information about food grades, visit https://apps.dhec.sc.gov/Environment/FoodGrades/.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 2:59 PM.
