All five of New Canaan’s public school cafeterias aced recent unannounced inspections by the New Canaan Health Department. Each school received a score of at least a 97 out of a possible 100 points.
Two of the cafeterias were cited for “risk factor” violations- one at East School and one at the high school. Their violations were only worth two points, but a four point “risk factor” violation would result in an automatic inspection failure. South School and West School both earned perfect scores on their inspections.
The overall scores were:
- East: 98
- South: 100
- West: 100
- Saxe: 99
- NCHS: 97
The following are details noted by the sanitarian at the most recent inspections of each cafeteria. Risk factor violations are noted with an asterisk:
East (May 10) – one violation:
- Sanitization rinse (hot water – chemical)*: “Chlorine sanitizer at 3bay 25 ppm – remake and increase to 50-100 ppm.”
South (May 9) – zero violations
West (May 10) – zero violations
Saxe (May 9) – one violation:
- Original container, properly labeled: “Label shakers (cheese) near salad station.”
NCHS (May 12) – two violations:
- Nonfood-contact surfaces designed, constructed, maintained, installed, located: “Remove milk crates – dry storage/ walk in fridge and freezer used for food storage.”
- Food-contact surfaces of utensils & equipment clean*: “Clean can opener blade.”
The last time each school failed an inspection due to major violations was:
- East—Jan. 12, 2007: badly dented cans found in stock room;
- South—Jan. 23, 2012: improperly cooled chicken soup;
- West—June 1, 2010: cream cheese, butter, sour cream and shredded cheese all improperly stored on top of a tray of frozen ice; overly diluted bleach sanitizer at 3-bay sink;
- Saxe—Jan. 26, 2012: dented, 6-pound can of Furmano’s chickpeas stored in dry storage area;
- New Canaan High School—Sept. 1, 2015: cooked chicken kept at improperly low temperature.