DOH Hits Leo's With Seven Violations
Improperly Cleaned Surfaces Among Offenses
A health inspection report of O’Donovan Hall conducted in October after the norovirus outbreak yielded four critical and three non-critical health violations — the highest number for any one year since 2003 for which statistics were provided.
The District of Columbia Department of Health Bureau of Community Hygiene completes annual inspections of the university dining hall, which includes facility assessments and offering guidelines on what it needs to improve in terms of cleanliness and food preparation.
According to Andrew Lindquist, executive director of campus dining services for ARAMARK Higher Education, which manages campus dining, inspections can come unexpectedly.
“We do not receive any notification as to when they will arrive or how often they will inspect a facility,” he said. “Our top priority is to ensure that the food we serve is of the highest quality within the safest environment possible.”
ARAMARK began catering on-campus dining on July 1, 2007, taking over for the Marriott Corporation, which had managed dining services since 1975. In the past four years, inspection records reveal that a few “demerits” were issued — most for violations such as inadequate cleaning of food-contact surfaces and failure to remove condensation from ventilation shafts.
In 2003, the dining hall was instructed to complete repairs on the ceiling and the ventilation shafts, as well as to better maintain the no food-contact surfaces.
In 2004, three demerits were issued for improper cleaning of floors and no food-contact surfaces, as well as general maintenance of the premises.
The year after, the dining hall was told to better sanitize their food-contact and no food-contact surfaces, receiving two demerits.
The DOH did not provide The Hoya with statistics from 2006.
A student reported to the D.C. Department of Health in March 2007 that he had fallen ill immediately after eating at the dining hall and believed there to be a connection. After a DOH investigation, though, “no correlation between illness and establishment” could be found.
Later in March, the dining facility passed its yearly inspection with no major violations and only “non-critical” violations, which were corrected on site. No demerits were issued.
Marriott officials could not be reached for comment about specific code violations.
O’Donovan Hall’s license was renewed in the June 2008 inspection, the first with ARAMARK as the campus food provider. One violation was found — a lack of hand cleanser in the public bathrooms. Six violations can close a facility or lead to court proceedings against the facility, according to the inspection reports.
Lindquist declined to comment on specific violations, but he said that ARAMARK does conduct its own internal inspections periodically. Every time the facility received demerits, he said, the dining hall conformed to the recommendations issued by the DOH, but was never shut down as a result of them.
When the norovirus outbreak first hit campus on the night of Sept. 30, the university closed O’Donovan Hall as a precaution even before the Bureau of Community Hygiene first arrived on the scene. However, thorough inspection of the facility yielded seven different violations, four labeled as “critical” and three as “non-critical.” The critical violations included poor hand-washing facilities, failure to have food-contact surfaces properly cleaned and sanitized, improperly stored toxic substances — which was corrected on site — and a failure to follow proper date-marking procedures.
A number of expired food items were also found in a kitchen refrigerator, according to the report, including artichoke lemon dip, spinach dip and an unidentified white sauce. The dining hall was ordered to discard the expired food items, the report states.
In addition, the investigating team noticed excessive mold and fungus on the interior of the main kitchen ice machines.
Due to the outbreak, the dining hall thoroughly cleaned the dining hall and the kitchen before it was reopened for dinner on Oct. 2, Lindquist said, a decision made with DOH approval.
“We take reports of alleged food-related illness very seriously. In most cases, alleged food-related illnesses are found to be viral, but the symptoms are often very similar to those associated with food-related illnesses,” Lindquist said.
In the case of the norovirus outbreak, he said the university utilized its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Plan, which uses comprehensive risk-reduction measures to make sure that any possible illness is not linked to dining hall food.
“Whenever these situations arise, the on-site team vigorously reviews procedures to ensure that everything was done properly according to the HACCP plan,” Lindquist said.
In mid-October, Georgetown chose to indefinitely cancel its contract with Organic To Go in light of the investigation into the norovirus outbreak, instead agreeing with DOH to prepare its own Grab ‘n’ Go items.
The health department was ultimately unable to determine the origin of the norovirus outbreak at the conclusion of its investigation, finding that it was a possible combination of person-to-person contact, contaminated food or contaminated surfaces. While the DOH report did note a higher correlation between those who became sick and Grab ‘n’ Go consumption, the investigation into the point of origin remained inconclusive.
Nov 14 2008 at 6:17 a.m.
this is f***ing putrid. i can't believe we are forced to pay for this s**t.
Nov 14 2008 at 2:10 p.m.
Those are extremely minor violations. Lets not forget about that other Georgetown establishments that charge far more the Leo's have had serious violations in the past few years. Health code violations are published in the Washington Post everyweek.
- Philly Pizza was citied and SHUT DOWN for a week two years ago for not having a working refrigerator or working sink.
- The Tombs has been cited multiple times for vermin and insects.
- Johnny Rockets was shut down for 2 weeks because of vermin in the kitchen during operating hours.
- Unnamed establishment stores chicken outside in trashcans packed with ice because the freezer is not large enough.
Leo's is by far one of the cleanest and most highly regulated dining choices in DC.
Nov 14 2008 at 6:39 p.m.
Joe Hoya stop trying to defend Leo's.
The place is a gross s***-hole. I bet you have ever seen exactly how they clean the utensils, cups and plates - they dip them all in tubs of soapy water. That is it. They soak them in water that is already filthy from the previous dirty plates and cups. It is a disguisting establishment and one that Georgetown seriously needs to fix. The food is all fake terrible food and the kitchen and backrooms which they try ever so hard to shield us from are disguisting. The workers there don't care about how clean the plates are they just count down until they can leave.
You are ignorant to say Leo's is by far one of the cleanest dining choices in DC because you named 4 places, one instance in which you admit happened years ago, where there were health problems, and I'm not sure when the last time you walked around Georgetown was but there are literally hundreds of restaurants in DC. To say Leo's is one of the cleanest is just a stupid stupid statement.
As for minor violations... is infecting 200+ students with constant puking and diaherrea a minor incident? I don't care how minor the violations are because we have but one place to use our meals on campus: Leo's, so I expect our school to atleast make it 100% safe and healthy.
Nov 14 2008 at 7:45 p.m.
Albert Capone: (and everyone else that shares that view)
"The workers there don't care about how clean the plates are they just count down until they can leave."
That's callous and unfair to place blame on Leo's staff. I've met and gotten to know a number of workers and they really care about students (despite those students who feel entitled enough to make comments like that!) and take pride in their work. I noticed though that the cafeteria is really understaffed, especially during peak times. Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant or coffee shop could tell you that being short staffed has a direct impact on cleanliness. So perhaps it would be more useful to point a finger at Aramark itself for the working conditions they create (which are an important part of food safety!) rather than blaming the people who work hard every day to keep Leo's running for thankless students like you.
Nov 14 2008 at 9:10 p.m.
Aramark management never schedules enough employees to run that large of an operation. I'm on a boycott!
Nov 15 2008 at 4:47 p.m.
As someone who works in the catering industry as well as being a georgtown student i can tell you that these violations are inredible minor and common. Joe Hoya is right on in saying that resraunts in the georgetown area incure many more violations than Leo's seems to ever have.
The Catering company i work for has been around for over 80 years in the Washington area and serves some of the most prestigious events in the city (white house dinners, inaugural balls, large scale sporting events, as well as very private personal parties), and i can tell you that running very large food service operations is very difficult. The staff at leo's does a very good job maintaining the quality of food that is served every day. The most students can pay for their meal plans each year is 2400 dollars (about). I have worked at events where the tickets themselves are well over that and the customers are served food that is of just slightly better quality (in terms of taste) than what is served at leos.
Everyone who calls for Leo's immediate closing really must not know anything about the what food is like at other schools- its horrible. there are few schools at the same level of goergetown which serve better food (wash u. for example) but many that do not (vanderbilt). You must all remember that the food at leo's was never found to have any connection to the norovirus out break on campus. That every student who got norovirus ate at leos shows no connection as thousands more students ate there that day and did not get sick. Finally, if the virus had originated from leo's it would be more than likely that a leo's employee would have gotten sick too- none did.
It would have been better journalism for The Hoya to give this article some prospective by providing some statistics for other cafeterias or restaurants in the area. It is yet another sign of the Hoya's continual attempts to blame Aramark, the Administration, or DPS for just about every problem on campus.
Oct 08 2009 at 11:06 a.m.
Dan is right about other school's food. I'm at USC Columbia, and I can guarantee you, those violations are nothing.
Also, having worked in higher end food service, I can attest to the fact that an understaffed rush can lead to poor cleaning. It's keep things impeccable, or get people served so they can enjoy their meal.