State Inspectors Issue Two C grades and Five B Grades in Lancaster County

Two Lancaster County food establishments were posting C grades and five were posting B grades at some point during July, according to inspection reports from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

The agency conducted 86 inspections in the county during the month, counting routine visits and follow-ups. One establishment, a Lancaster convenience store operating as Shreeji Management 2023 Inc., accounted for both a B and a C before finishing the month back at an A.

The Department of Agriculture scores retail food establishments on a 100-point scale and posts a letter grade decal at each site after every inspection. A score of 88 or higher earns an A, 78 to 87 earns a B, and 77 or below earns a C. The posted grade does not always match the numerical score. State regulation lets inspectors downgrade a facility for consecutive violations or for priority violations that have not been fixed by the time of a follow-up, and two Lancaster County businesses were downgraded that way in July.

Derby in Lancaster

Derby, a convenience store at 1501-A Great Falls Highway in Lancaster, scored 75 points on a routine inspection July 27, the lowest score in the county for the month. The report notes that a complaint against the business was verified.

The inspector found sleeping quarters at the back of the building, with personal care items in the restroom. State regulation prohibits living or sleeping quarters in a food establishment, and the violation was not corrected during the inspection. The report also documents an employee who did not wash their hands according to procedure and who did not use the handwashing sink, an employee whose fingernails had excess dirt, and residential pesticides on the property. No sanitizer was available at the time of the inspection.

Inspectors also found fruit flies in the facility and dead insects throughout, air gaps at exterior doors, a personal sandwich left on a counter, personal medicine on preparation areas, onions stored on the floor, the three-pot sink being used to store scales and appliances, uncovered single-service cups, an ice cream dipping utensil sitting in 102-degree water, and ice cream cabinets with heavy ice buildup and lids that were not working. Cold holding temperatures were in range.

Derby was required to have a follow-up inspection and a new routine inspection within 60 days. A follow-up inspection has not occurred at this time.

Shreeji Management in Lancaster

The store at 602 E. Arch St. in Lancaster took the longest road back to an A.

A routine inspection July 8 produced 83 points and a B. The inspector found no active date-marking system, with hot dogs and hot dog chili carrying no open or discard dates. Residential pesticide was stored under the front hand sink and in the storage room. Neither the front sink nor the storage room hand sink had hand drying provisions or handwashing signage. There were active insects in the storage room and pest droppings and dead insects throughout the building. Hot dog chili was thawing at room temperature, single-service items were stored on the floor, and the walk-in walls, ceilings, fan covers and pipes had organic matter buildup.

The follow-up came July 15. The store scored 86 points, a number that falls in the B range, but the inspector wrote that the grade was an automatic downgrade to C. The date-marking problems and the hand drying provisions had been corrected by then, but the active insects in the storage room had not. A second follow-up July 23 returned the store to an A.

Nijanad in Lancaster

Nijanad LLC, at 4494 Kershaw Camden Highway in Lancaster, scored 79 points on a routine inspection July 17, one point above a C.

Four items on the hot bar were below the required 135 degrees. Mashed potatoes measured 104 degrees, meatloaf 114, rice 108 and squash 110. At the main make station, sliced tomatoes were at 48 degrees and coleslaw at 51, both above the 41-degree limit for cold holding. All were corrected during the inspection, as was a container of raw shell eggs stored over vegetables in the walk-in cooler.

Soap was not available at the hand sink by the tea station, and the facility had no sanitizer test strips and no certified food handler on site. The inspector reported excess flies in both the kitchen and the dining room. Raw concrete floors in the kitchen and back storage room and raw wood on the storage room walls were listed as a consecutive violation, meaning the same problem had been cited before.

A follow-up inspection has not occurred at this time.

Bojangles in Kershaw

The Bojangles at 516 S. Hampton St. in Kershaw scored 82 points on a routine inspection July 29 that also verified a complaint.

Macaroni and cheese at 51 degrees and coleslaw at 48 degrees were found in the walk-in cooler and corrected on site. Hand drying provisions were not available. The inspector reported an excess of flies in the building, including in the lower cabinet at the chicken dredge station, where the refrigeration was not working. The spray hose at the three-pot sink was hanging below the rim of the sink with no air gap, and a leaking hot water heat pipe was putting water on the floor.

Three items were flagged as consecutive violations. The walk-in cooler threshold is crumbling, the walk-in freezer threshold has missing pieces that expose raw wood, and there is rust on the cooler shelving and ice buildup in the freezer. Grease and debris had collected on the hot line and fryer equipment, the hood system and filters were dripping grease, and floors throughout the building had grease and debris buildup.

A follow-up is required within 10 days, which puts the return visit in early August.

Dunkin in Lancaster

The Dunkin at 763 Highway 9 Bypass West in Lancaster scored 87 points on a routine inspection July 8, a single point below an A. The report notes that complaints were verified.

Residential pesticide was stored under the three-pot sink and was removed during the inspection. The inspector found heavy fly and gnat pressure near the main drink and espresso station, an air gap at the bottom of the back exterior door, employee medicine stored at the drive-through window, a bag of sweetener on the floor, an employee whose hair was not tightly restrained, and debris on the syrup racks, ice bin, espresso machines, donut cases and cup holders. A hole was noted in the wall covering to the left of the drive-through window.

A follow-up inspection July 15 returned the store to an A.

Little Caesars in Indian Land

Little Caesars, at 9789 Charlotte Highway, Suite 500, in Indian Land, is the one case in the county where a B grade came from a follow-up rather than a routine inspection.

The store passed a routine inspection July 15 with an A. On the July 22 follow-up it scored 92 points, well within the A range, but the restroom hand sink would not reach 100 degrees. The inspector wrote that the facility was downgraded to a B for that reason alone. Other items included a large gap at the bottom of the back door, worn gaskets on the reach-in cooler at the pizza make line, and debris buildup on shelving and on floors under equipment.

A second follow-up July 28 restored the A.

Full inspection reports for every permitted food establishment in the state, including scores from the past three years, are available through the SC Food Grades tool at apps.dhec.sc.gov/Environment/FoodGrades.