Restaurant Inspections: Qdoba, Apple Spice Junction

Inspectors from the Virginia Department of Health Visited several restaurants in or near Herndon this week. See a sampling of those results below, and visit the health department's website for a complete list of recent inspections.

Herndon Qdoba
13031 Worldgate Drive
Date of inspection: May 6
2 critical violations, 4 non-critical violations
Dispensing and/or in-use utensils improperly stored between use as follows: Observed ice scoop handle touching ice in the ice bin.
 
Anita's New Mexican Style Food
701 Elden St.
Date of inspection: May 3
3 critical violations, 3 non-critical violations
The hand washing facility located in the kitchen near the dish washer is blocked by trash can, preventing access by employees for easy hand washing.
 
Apple Spice Junction
250-A Exchange Place
Date of inspection: May 3
No critical violations, 3 non-critical violations
The following items are intended for household use only and are not approved for use in a commercial food establishment: Panini press and food processor.

"Ideally, an operation would have no critical violations, or none which are not corrected immediately and not repeated. In our experience, it is unrealistic to expect that a complex, full-service food operation can routinely avoid any violations," according to department of health website.

The site continues: "Keep in mind that any inspection report is a 'snapshot' of the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, a restaurant could have fewer or more violations than noted in the report. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long term cleanliness of an establishment."

Full reports can be accessed on the health department's website.

• A core item "usually relates to general sanitation, operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), facilities or structures, equipment design, or general maintenance."
• A priority item is "a provision in this Code whose application contributes directly to the elimination, prevention or reduction to an acceptable level, hazards associated with foodborne illness or injury and there is no other provision that more directly controls the hazard," and "includes items with a quantifiable measure to show control of hazards such as cooking, reheating, cooling, handwashing."
• A priority foundation item "includes an item that requires the purposeful incorporation of specific actions, equipment or procedures by industry management to attain control of risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness or injury such as personnel training, infrastructure or necessary equipment, HACCP plans, documentation or record keeping, and labeling."