Fast-food chains vary in health department scores

By Randy Ellis

Published: February 13, 2005

Fast-food restaurant chains strive for consistency, but even industry giants like McDonald's don't always succeed.

Chains work at food safety
State agency plans to hire inspectors

Three Oklahoma County McDonald's restaurants had perfect scores on all their health department inspections last year. Seven others had 10 or more health code violations in a single inspection.

The McDonald's at 1414 S Santa Fe in Edmond was cited for 14 violations in July, including storing an ice scoop on the floor under the ice maker, not cooking chicken at high enough temperatures and storing away soiled utensils as if they were clean.

In an effort to better inform people about the quality of fast-food restaurants in Oklahoma County, The Oklahoman has examined hundreds of inspection reports and sorted the information into three lists.

For those looking for perfection, The Oklahoman has identified 52 Oklahoma County restaurants which are part of national or regional chains which went through all of 2004 without being cited for a single violation.

For people concerned about eating at a fast-food restaurant which recently has experienced a significant lapse in cleanliness or food safety, a list has been prepared of 17 Oklahoma County fast-food restaurants which were cited for 10 or more violations during a single inspection last year.

For those interested in how different fast-food chains compare with each other, The Oklahoman has examined last year's Oklahoma County inspections of restaurants which are part of more than 40 chains and calculated the average number of violations per inspection for each chain.

Sonic, based in Bricktown, had 9 restaurants go through 2004 without being cited for a single health code violation. That's nearly twice as many as its nearest competitors.

Sonic also has more restaurants in the county than any other franchise. Local inspectors looked at 64 Sonic restaurants last year. McDonald's, the next most dominant franchise in the county, had 48 restaurants inspected and three survived the year without a violation.

Fifty-four Sonic restaurants had at least one violation during the year and one, located at 1212 SW 59, had 10 violations in a single inspection.

Nancy Love Robertson, Sonic's senior vice president of people and communications, said the corporation places a strong training emphasis on avoiding critical food safety violations those which could make people sick. She is confident that few of the violations for which Sonic restaurants were cited would fit in that category.

"We would like to hit a home run every time, but that doesn't always happen," she said.

One inspection, multiple violations
Sometimes restaurants even strike out.

Seventeen Oklahoma County fast-food chain restaurants were cited for 10 or more violations during a single inspection last year.

Seven of those were McDonald's restaurants and all but one of those seven are located either near Interstate 40 or south of that dividing line.

The McDonald's at 6600 S Interstate 35 Service Road was cited for not cooking a hamburger at a hot enough temperature, having excessive flies in a storage area and storing food less than six inches off the floor. The McDonald's at 9000 SE 29 was cited for having toxic items stored above the grill, excessive flies in food preparation areas and not keeping eggs at a cool enough temperature. The McDonald's at 2901 S May was cited for storing chemicals in spray bottles in a dining area where children could reach them.

Bruce Allendorfer, local field service manager for McDonald's, said he thought the high number of violations for several southside restaurants was a coincidence of timing not location.

All seven restaurants that had 10 or more violations had their bad inspections in July, records show.

Allendorfer said McDonald's and Oklahoma City-County Health Department inspection officials met after the troubling inspections to discuss the problems.

"You can check temperatures in different ways," Allendorfer said.

Some McDonald's restaurants were being cited for undercooked meats, but the corporation has very strict standards and carefully calibrated cookers with timers that ensure meat is always cooked to even the strictest health standards, Allendorfer said.

While many fast-food restaurants use a flat grill and flip their burgers, McDonald's uses two-sided grills that simultaneously cook burgers on both sides, Allendorfer said. That alters cooking times, and McDonald's and Health Department officials were able to reach an understanding concerning proper heating procedures, he said.

McDonald's officials took careful note of other violations and conveyed that information to managers throughout the chain in an effort to prevent violations from being repeated, Allendorfer said.

One restaurant that was cited for repeated violations was Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits at 135 NE 23. The restaurant was inspected nine times from Dec. 4, 2003, through Jan. 13, 2005, and each time the restaurant was cited for not having a food service operator's certificate posted. A food service operator's certificate is required to show that at least one employee has been trained in proper food-handling procedures.

In addition to the license violation, the restaurant was cited for numerous other violations including not holding chicken at hot enough temperatures, having pink, slimy substances built up in the ice machine, and not having paper towels and soap at its hand-washing area.

The restaurant has improved dramatically in recent days, however.

J.J. Villafranca, regional director for Popeye's, said Oklahoma Popeye's LLC is negotiating to buy the restaurant and has already brought in two new licensed managers from Texas to oversee operations.

Popeye's received a perfect score from the Oklahoma City-County Health Department after its most recent inspection Jan. 14.

Restaurants under the corporate umbrella of Yum! Brands Inc. usually ranked among the best in terms of fewest violations per inspection in Oklahoma County.

Yum! Brands is the world's largest restaurant company, with more than 33,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories. While many consumers may be unfamiliar with the name Yum! Brands, almost every American is familiar with its restaurant franchises, which include A&W, Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver's and Pizza Hut.

Of those five brands, all but Pizza Hut finished at or near the top of rankings of similar competitors in terms of having the lowest average number of violations per inspection. Pizza Hut finished eighth out of 10 pizza chains that were evaluated.