Mecklenburg County Health Dept
Public Health Inspections
 
  
 
Premises Information
Return to Inspections
NameCOOK HOUSE, THE
Address20936 TORRENCE CHAPEL RD
 
City/State/ZIP
CORNELIUS NC 28031
Premise Type1 - Restaurant
CountyMecklenburg
Inspection Date 6/18/2019
Final Score @ Grade
90 A
General Comments
Violations 
CDI=Corrected During Inspection  R=Repeat Violation  VR=Verification Required 
Violation Item Demerits Violation Description CDIRVRComments
1 2 PIC present, Demonstration - Certification by accredited program, and performs duties No No No 2-102.12 PIC shall demonstrate knowledge by being a certified food protection manager. Observed no certified persons present with serv safe certification.
4 0 Proper eating, tasting, drinking, or tobacco use No No No 2-401.11 Cover and store employee drinks to prevent contamination of food or utensils. Observed employee beverages and cups stored in and amongst prep area and storage areas.
7 0 No bare hand contact with RTE foods or a pre-approved alternate properly followed Yes No No 3-301.11(B) Do not contact exposed ready-to-eat food with bare hands. Use suitable utensils, single-use gloves or dispensing equipment. -P Observed wait staff scoop ice with a beverage cup, barehanded. EHS did not observe any contact with the ice and the hand of the wait staff. Wait staff employee was instructed to discard the beverage and ice, and re-made the beverage using an ice scoop, in the proper method, which reduces any instance of barehand contact.
13 0 Food separated and protected Yes No No 3-302.11(A) Separate raw animal foods from ready-to-eat foods. -P Observed cooked, frozen meatloaf portions in contact with raw meat items in a chest freezer. Raw meat items had been removed from commercial packaging, meatloaf was made in house, cooled, and then frozen in individual packages. Storage order must be observed based on final cook temperature in regards to frozen raw meats that have been taken out of the original, commercial packaging. Meatloaf was moved to a separate freezer unit.
18 3 Proper cooling time and temperatures Yes Yes No 3-501.14(A) Quickly cool cooked foods within 2 hours from 135F to 70F; and within a total of 6 hours from 135F to 41F. -P Observed brown gravy cooled in a large, deep plastic container overnight. Gravy was observed to be 52F after cooling overnight for longer than 6 hours. Item was voluntarily discarded.
20 1.50 Proper cold holding temperatures Yes Yes No 3-501.16(A)(2) Maintain TCS foods in cold holding at 41F or less. -P Observed numerous items cold holding above 41F but below 45F. Items must be maintained at 41F or less, as January 1st, 2019 has already passed and facility has had an inspection since that date. Coolers and refrigeration units must be either upgraded, repaired or replaced such that they are capable of properly cold holding these items. Observed items in a salad prep, flip top cooler. These items were above 45F and were voluntarily discarded by PIC. Items were sliced tomato, lettuce, and melons.
21 1.50 Proper date marking and disposition No Yes Yes 3-501.17 Date mark/label all TCS foods that are ready-to-eat once opened or prepared and held more than 24hrs. -Pf Observed multiple instances of ready to eat products such as cut lettuce, cut tomatoes, cut deli meats, cooked meats such as meatloaf, house made sauces such as marinara, and sliced cheeses that were prepared the day prior according to PIC, but not date marked. Facility must date mark these items if the intent is to hold them overnight, longer than 24 hours. Facility did not have any procedures in place to track the date marking of such items, EHS will complete a return visit by 6/27/19 to verify that procedures have been implemented.
31 0.50 Proper cooling methods used; adequate equipment for temperature control Yes Yes No 3-501.15 Quickly cool foods. Use methods such as open/vented shallow pans, large ice baths and active stirring. Cold air must flow around product to remove the heat. -Pf Observed a large plastic container of brown gravy cooled overnight at 52F. Item did not meet cooling parameters and was discarded. Facility must implement proper cooling procedures such as cooling items such as gravies and soups in shallow pans with active stirring and monitoring of the cooling process to ensure that proper time and temperature parameters are met.
37 1 Contamination prevented during food preparation, storage and display Yes No No 3-305.11 Store food in a clean, dry location, not exposed to contamination. Keep at least 6 inches above the floor. Observed packaged food boxes present on the floor of the walk in cooler. Observed heavily dented can stored amongst dry goods in the dry goods storage area. 6-404.11 Designate a separate area for items that are not for use and are being held for credit, such as dented cans or recalled products. -Pf Observed heavily dented can present amongst dry storage items. Can was removed by PIC.
42 0 Utensils, equipment and linens: properly stored, dried and handled No No No 4-901.11(A) Air dry equipment and utensils after cleaning and sanitizing. Observed wet nested metal containers in the clean dish area.
43 0 Single-use and single-service articles; properly stored and used No No No 4-903.11(A) Store single-use and single-service articles to prevent contamination and at least 6 inches off the floor. Observed recently delivered single service articles stored on the floor of the rear door area. Items must be moved to proper storage as soon as employees are able to.
45 0 Equipment, food and non-food-contact surfaces approved; cleanable, properly designed, constructed and used No No No 4-501.11 Maintain equipment in good repair. Observed heavily damaged cabinets in the wait staff area, damaged gaskets on pull out cooler drawers, reach in cooler door repaired with plastic tape.
46 0 Warewashing facilities: installed, maintained and used; test strips Yes No No 4-302.14 Provide a test kit that accurately measures sanitizer concentrations. -Pf Observed facility not utilizing chlorine test strips to verify that proper concentration of chlorine was present in three compartment sink. Observed employee created solution at less than 50ppm as tested by EHS before sanitization occurred, more chlorine was added and proper levels observed by EHS.
53 0.50 Physical facilities installed, maintained and clean No Yes No 6-201.11 Floors, walls and ceilings shall be designed, constructed, and installed so they are smooth and easily cleanable. Observed non-easily cleanable, absorbant, ceiling tiles in the kitchen area. Observed raw, unsealed wood present in the kitchen surrounding a ventilation fan and in other areas of the kitchen, observed openings in facility walls in the dry storage area where daylight can be seen PIC unable to sign due to cracked screen.