Restaurant Inspections: Chick-fil-A Cited for 11 Health Code Violations

The Prince William Health District cited Chick-fil-A for 11 violations ranging from sanitary issues to the improper storage of food.

The restaurant, located at 9939 Sowder Village Square in Manassas, was inspected Sept. 11; two critical and eight noncritical violations were reported.

According to the Health District report, the critical violations include:

Critical (Corrected During Inspection): Employees observed handling ready-to-eat (RTE) food with their bare hands.

Critical (Corrected During Inspection): The following equipment food-contact surfaces were observed soiled to sight and touch: salad prep cutting board.

Other non-critical violations included:

• Repeat: There were no thermometers in the 1-door work-top coolers in the drive through window area.
• Large number of food containers stored on the floor in rear food prep area, and walk-in cooler & in walk-in freezer.
• Boxes of single service food items stored on floor.
• Bottom shelf opposite the chicken breading station is less than 6" off the floor.
• The walk-in cooler & freezer thermometers are not accurate in the range of use.

• Repeat: The mop sink water line to the chemical mixer / dispenser lacks a backflow or backsiphonage prevention device identified as meeting standards set by the American Society of Sanitary Engineering.
• The floor drain in front of the walk-in freezer door is not draining.
• Dead lamps in the chicken breading area.
• Personal items being stored the single-service food items.

Click here to search for detailed information about this restaurant.

“Restaurant inspections are normally scheduled for one to four inspections per year, depending on the complexity of the menu, how much food is made from raw products, and how much is made in advance rather than cooked-to-order,” the agency states on their website.

When violations are observed during a routine inspection, they are detailed in a report and classified as either critical (posing a direct or immediate threat to consumers) or non-critical (a failure of cleaning or maintenance), the agency said.

These inspections are considered by the Health District as a snapshot of a specific day of operation.

According to the agency: “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.”