p. The University Center’s Center Court dining hall improved in its latest health inspection, receiving only two critical violations and no non-critical violations. In its previous health inspection, it received nine critical health violations.
p. In the Oct. 25 inspection, the UC was cited for a dented can of apple butter on the shelf and an improper ammonia concentration in a cleaning solution. Both were corrected during the inspection.
p. Director of Dining Services Phil DiBenedetto and Director of University Center Dining Jeff Brackett seemed pleased with the results, a drastic improvement from the May 2006 inspection, which cited the UC for nine critical and 18 non-critical violations. The number of critical violations tied for most in the district with Milano’s restaurant.
p. According to DiBenedetto, many of the violations can be attributed to the UC’s size.
p. “The average is about 2.1 [critical violations] or something like that for a fast food restaurant, and that’s a place with six or seven employees,” he said. “A place like the Commons or UC has six or seven restaurants in it. The opportunity to find [a violation] is six to seven times higher.”
p. While the UC may have received fewer violations, DiBenedetto said that the procedure was the same as usual.
p. “Each inspection is training for us and we go over it with the staff — the good, the bad and the ugly.”
p. According to the Virginia Department of Health’s report, the two violations were corrected immediately. The can was removed from the shelf and the solution was adjusted.
p. “We changed [the concentration],” said Brackett. “They’ll come back next semester, and our goal will be zero. If we get any, though, it will be handled in the same way.”
p. “The inspection was conducted to follow frequency guidelines for inspections,” VDH Environmental Health Specialist Carol Puckett said in an e-mail.
p. The online report states that it “was a scheduled inspection to ensure previous violations have been corrected.”
p. DiBenedetto and Brackett said that they are constantly examining dining hall safety.
p. “At each of my staff meetings, we review health inspections. All of those are being reviewed on a daily basis,” DiBenedetto added.
p. Brackett and DiBenedetto also noted that employee rewards are also based partially on sanitation and cleanliness.
p. According to DiBenedetto, the UC will take the results and learn from them.
p. “We took the inspection, we did the training and we moved on,” he said. “We’ll continue to be inspected and continue to do the job we’re supposed to do.”
