DETROIT – Schools receive inspections at least once a year for their cafeterias. If a critical violation is found by inspectors, it must be corrected.
The Local 4 Defenders took a close look at school food inspections, but in our random survey only one school had a problem with mice. That was Edison Elementary in Westland. A recent inspection listed "a mouse was found in a trap in the kitchen," and " also observed a deteriorating mouse in a glue trap" in the teachers' lounge.
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West Junior HighGuest Elementary Hickory Woods Elementary Meadowbrook Elementary Delta Kelly Elementary Oakley Park Elementary Clifford Smart Jr. High Walled Lake Elementary Walled Lake Northern High Walled Lake Western High
Local 4 spotted an exterminator when our cameras were at Edison Elementary.
Another problem discovered in school inspections was milk not kept cold enough. Examples of warm milk were found in inspection reports at Adams Upper Elementary in Westland, Elliot Elementary in Westland and George H. Fisher School in Redford.
"Keeping cold stuff cold and hot stuff hot that helps prevent bacteria growth and therefore protect the food from making someone sick," said Macomb County health inspector Gary White.
In Romulus, Cory Elementary was cited for employees handling food with their bare hands. Two schools in Livonia, Frost Middle School and Stevenson High School, inspectors discovered food like deli meat was not dated. That is a clear violation of policy.
In Oakland County, Walled Lake Western High School was cited for improper date marking of food; in particular, their chicken and some cheese sauce.
Walled Lake Northern High School received five critical violations on its recent inspection including not keeping the reach-in cooler cold enough causing chicken warps to be too warm. Another problem inspectors found was improper dating for cottage cheese and salsas.
"Some foods can only be held for certain periods of time and held safely for certain periods of time particularly potentially hazardous foods and things like that so we require foods to have a date mark," said White.
Oakley Park elementary in Walled Lake received three critical violations including allowing coleslaw to sit out too long.
And Delta Kelly Elementary was slapped with two critical violations because some food contact surfaces and utensils that were not clean.
In Macomb County, the Defenders found Green Acres Elementary with food that was not dated including the sausage and the hummus. It can be a problem because outdated food could make kids sick.
According to state inspection records, there are some problems at Mound Park Elementary in Warren. It's latest inspection showed the school received three critical violations..
The salad with the ham and cheese was found at room temperature and the school was missing two back-flow prevention devices.
"That keeps waste water or contaminated water from being siphoned back or sucked back into the portable water system and therefore contaminating the water supply and possibly spreading contaminations to people and food," said White.
The Defenders discovered Armada Middle School received a critical violation on its last inspection because food contact surfaces and utensils were not properly sanitized.
Schofield Elementary in Warren received two critical violations on a recent inspection because of a corroded food grater and a missing black-flow prevention device.
Mount Clemens high school was cited with a critical violation because inspectors found the spicy chicken there was not kept hot enough for safety standards.
Other schools in Macomb County with critical violations on their last inspection include :
Chatterton Junior High in Warren Fitzgerald High School in Warren Richard Middle School in Fraser St. Lawrence school in Utica Westview Elementary in Warren
A critical violation is considered serious. It is important to note that all of the schools listed above have corrected the critical violations that were found.
Many districts post their inspections online including Wayne and Macomb Counties.
For more information on Macomb County inspections: Macomb County Inspections
For more information on Wayne County inspections: http://swordsolutions.com.
Oakland County does not have its inspections online but it is public information and you can contact the Oakland County Health Department and ask for the information yourself.