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Mass. Ave. froyo place has some cleanliness issues

A city health inspector today suspended the permit for Red Mango, 334 Mass. Ave., due to violations that included: No hot water, a blocked off hand-washing sink, too warm cut strawberries in a toppings bar, a "black mold like substance" on the interior of an ice machine, live cockroaches inside cabinets and small black flies in the basement.

The manager can apply for a re-inspection once he or she has corrected the problems.

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Comments

flavored frozen yogurt. Advertise it as organic.

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Kombucha! Just mix in some chia seeds and it will be sooo healthy!

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"Handsink in kitchen area blocked with boxes- Remove and ensure accessable Handwash sink in serviceline being used to rinse blenders"

That should be something an owner faces charges for, with possible jail time. The owner was legally required to be at the restaurant full-time (as the sole certified food protection manager), and apparently was not.

For god's sake, this is a yogurt place! That 'hand-washing with hot water' law is in place for a good reason - hepatitis B is very bad for young children and difficult to treat, but can go unnoticed in adults.

"Establishment operating with no hot water-Manager stated the hot water has not been working since last evening."

Riiiiight.

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I mostly agree with you but wanted to clear up one point. The food safety certified manager does not have to be present all the time:

Effective October 1, 2001, the Massachusetts Food Establishment Regulation, 105 CMR 590:003(A)(2) requires food establishments to have at least one person-in-charge (PIC) who is a certified food protection manager. This person must be at least eighteen years of age and be a full-time equivalent on-site manager or supervisor. When the certified PIC in unavailable during operating hours, an alternate PIC must be assigned. The alternate PIC does not require certification; however, this person must be knowledgeable in food safety, foodborne illness prevention and corrective actions

http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/health/fmcert.asp

They could also handle the requirement with additional part-time cerified food safety managers. Manager certification testing is available on-line for $125 so it's a pretty low barrier. Certifying each worker (not manager level) is $15.

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Due to the way health codes are written, most places have an excess of hand wash sinks. The place I used to run had one on each side of a swinging door. We only ever used one of them (the only one near food), but by law were required to keep both stocked and clear. Despite my best intentions and instructions (and about four signs), the other one would inevitably have stuff staked in front of it, usually right after a delivery.

A few times the inspector came in and I got knocked for it. Most of the violations this place got are pretty routine, if anything it sounds like the manager just needs to up their game. The super popular corporate coffee chain next door used to get knocked for the black mold thing all the time. The only two stand out things I see are the hot water (should have called a plumber ASAP), and the bug issue (they should have a pest guy that's taking care of this already).

Jail time? You've got to be kidding me. If you're this prone to overreaction I hope you never browse the ISD reports. You'd never eat out ever again. When you're dealing with the ten gazillion things that go wrong in food service daily, its easy to let a few things fall by the wayside. The ISD exists to ensure they don't stay that way for too long.

The only time to really get concerned if if the place fails multiple times in a row, which speaks to larger issues.

Most restaurants fail a few things the first inspection. Out of the three food places in the building my place was in, never once was there a time all three passed the first time the inspector came out. Even 2/3 was pretty rare, and they were all corporate places with established cleaning procedures; it's even harder for a mom-and-pop. Even so, all three were unquestionably "clean", with employees with washed hands and properly handled food. It's just how the business is. If you don't like it, grow and cook your own food.

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I like to read the inspection reports for places I go to frequently, and you're right that ISD almost always finds minor violations that are soon fixed and then the place passes. This is why I was surprised that the Indian place I go to for lunch every week has passed the last two years with no violations at all, especially since it is a mom and pop kind of restaurant:

http://www.cityofboston.gov/isd/health/mfc/insphistory.asp?licno=37251

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That's good, right? Hale and hearty? Better than dead cockroaches?

Trying to look on the bright side here.

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