GREENFIELD — The Health Department closed another one of the city’s fast-food restaurants on Monday morning after following up on a tip that led to the discovery of about 30 health and safety violations at McDonald’s on Federal Street.

“They knew something was wrong,” Health Director Jennifer Hoffman said of the anonymous tip the department received late last week from an employee. “This is stuff we need to know.”

Violations included out-of-date Canadian bacon, an unsanitary food serving station, a dirty storage rack, unlabeled and improperly stored food items, half-eaten food in the preparation area and a grease fryer in need of cleaning. Some food handling temperatures also were out of compliance.

The owner of the establishment, Jorge Gomez, could not be reached by press time. Hoffman said the department tentatively plans to return Tuesday to reinspect.

“Depending on what it’s like, and the staffing, we may do something similar to what we did with Taco Bell,” Hoffman explained.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell restaurant on the Mohawk Trail was closed Thursday after health and fire safety inspectors identified about 30 violations or concerns. After a thorough cleaning and subsequent re-inspection, the drive-through was allowed to reopen.

“They don’t have enough staff to maintain the ... main area,” Hoffman said of KFC/Taco Bell. “Until they get that training down, which corporate is doing now … we want to see improvement … before the next stage of opening.”

When inspecting a restaurant, Hoffman said there are certain “critical items” that must be in compliance, typically relating to how food is stored, heated, cooled or prepared. Other items, such as a lack of paper towels in the bathroom or dirty floors, for example, can be corrected without a closure.

“A lot of it is education,” she said. “But when there are actually things that become hazardous to the public’s health, that’s when we close it down.”

She said the Federal Street McDonald’s was last inspected about six months ago.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

]]>