Construction during operating hours temporarily closes Springfield restaurant this week
Construction during business hours temporarily closed down a Springfield restaurant on Nov. 28, according to a Springfield-Greene County Health Department food inspection report.
A complaint spurred an inspection of the Subway at 3860 W. Chestnut Expressway on that date. The inspector observed “food and food contact surfaces contaminated with construction dust,” which led to the suspension of the restaurant’s permit.
A follow-up report noted that the Subway reopened the next day, Nov. 29, after the staff and owner cleaned up construction debris and agreed to protect the food and food-contact surfaces with plastic sheeting as needed and to clean up the area prior to starting food prep. The Subway also agreed to have construction work done after business hours.
Food inspections take place one to three times a year, depending on the type of food served, the population served, difficulty of food preparation and past history. Restaurants preparing food from raw ingredients are inspected more often “than convenience stores that serve only non-potentially hazardous foods, such as popcorn and soda,” according to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
Each report identifies what was happening at the establishment at that time. Consumers who want to know whether a violation is a one-time thing or a pattern are encouraged to refer to previous reports.
Issues found during inspection fall into either priority or non-priority violations. Priority violations impact the safety of the food, such as cross contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food, improper food temperature and poor personal hygiene and employee health. Multiple priority violations can lead to an establishment being shut down. Non-priority violations alone do not directly affect food safety, such as dirty floors, sticky tabletops or outside trash cans not being covered.
