CONCORD, N.C. — A Facebook post is getting attention after a woman claims she took her grandmother to breakfast at K&W Cafeteria in Concord and saw cockroaches inside the buffet window.
Shawntae Maxwell took her 91-year-old grandmother to K&W Cafeteria to celebrate Mother’s Day.
“Before I knew it, there were multiple live cockroaches moving around,” Maxwell said.
She said cockroaches were inside the service line window.
“I saw roaches and my first instinct is, ‘We have to get my 91-year-old grandmother out of there because her health and safety comes first,’” Maxwell said.
Channel 9 sent the post to the Cabarrus Health Alliance. Officials there said they were aware of it, and environmental health staff members are following up.
The agency inspected the restaurant Tuesday.
A report from that inspection notes: “Dead cockroaches were FOUND next to clean dishes, underneath equipment on the service line, next to the service trays and behind picture frames AND Live cockroaches were FOUND underneath equipment on the cook line and the prep kitchen AS WELL AS crawling into ceilings and coming out of power outlet holes AND equipment openings, gaskets and on the clean dish shelves.”
The cafeteria will be bug-bombed Wednesday night, according to the inspection report.
The inspection score was 87, the lowest out of the last three visits. Those inspections also pointed out there were cockroaches.
Channel 9 asked the Cabarrus Health Alliance what it takes to shut a restaurant down.
“An imminent hazard (something that would cause death or serious physical harm), such as an unsafe water source, or a lack of adequate refrigeration, a violation of conditions of the permit, or a score below a 70,” officials said.
Despite the cockroaches, the restaurant’s scores were well over 70 in the last three inspections.
However, the presence of insects isn’t that serious of a violation.
Cabarrus Health Alliance said, “If pest presence is found, it is a violation, and one or two points will be deducted depending on the severity of the problem and if it is a repeat violation.”
Maxwell said she was shocked.
“It is very eye-opening for sure,” she said. “I thought that pests and rodents would be something that would cause a restaurant to, at least, close temporarily until they get the situation under control.”
The Cabarrus Health Alliance said that in general, they are seeing lower scores and environmental health staff are spending more time during inspections. They are also seeing a staffing shortage and a lot of turnovers in kitchen staff.
Resident Wrenn Green, who was at the shopping plaza Tuesday, said she would be very upset if that happened to her.
She said she has seen the posts and won’t return to the restaurant.
“And then the pictures, it’s just like roaches everywhere in the food. On the plates. On the floor, alive. Not dead. Alive,” she said.
Bill Marler, who is a food safety lawyer and advocate, said bugs, mice, and rats carry pathogens, which can make humans sick or kill them.
Pests can find their way into some of the nicest restaurants but they must be taken care of immediately, he said.
“That’s not only on the responsibility of the restaurant, but frankly, it’s the responsibility of the health department to do something about it,” Marler said. “And that may wind up being shutting the facility down until they, you know, get their act together.”
Q&A with Cabarrus Health Alliance:
Is the health department seeing any trends in inspections? In general, we are seeing lower scores and, environmental health staff are spending more time during inspections because of the education we provide about these violations and so that we can obtain corrective action of priority and priority foundation violations during the visit.
What would it take to shut down a restaurant? What happens if roaches are founded? An imminent hazard (something that would cause death or serious physical harm) such as an unsafe water source, or a lack of adequate refrigeration, a violation of conditions of the permit or a score below a 70.
If pest presence is found, it is a violation and 1 or 2 points will be deducted depending on the severity of the problem and if it is a repeat violation. If food or equipment is being contaminated, then those violations will be documented and points will be deducted as appropriate. Any contaminated food will be discarded.
Are you seeing a shortage of workers? Does that contribute to poor sanitization? In general, we are seeing a staffing shortage and a lot of turnover in kitchen staff.
It is possible that a shortage of staff can lead to gaps in sanitation; however, our staff work diligently to educate the person in charge the importance of being in compliance with rules.
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