JudynTX
05-23-2012, 10:11 AM
SAN ANTONIO - One of the hottest foods in San Antonio is put to the test.
Between the raw ingredients and the necessary handling, there is certainly opportunity for bacteria to make it's way into freshly prepared salsa.
KSAT's Defenders sampled salsa at Casarita on Thousand Oaks, Las Palapas on Callaghan, Alamo Cafe's I-10 location, Don Pedro on Southwest Military and at Taco Cabana on Broadway.
At all but two locations, the salsa samples came back clean.
Tests revealed Taco Cabana's salsa to have more than 3,000 colony forming units per gram of coliform. A second sample at Taco Cabana came back worse with a coliform level of 79,000 CFUs per gram.
"That would be a high count. We would certainly want to look at that facility," said Metro Health Sanitation Services Manager Stephen Barscewski.
Barscewski said there is no specific level of CFU/gram that would be considered safe or acceptable.
"As the levels go up, we become concerned," Barscewski said.
"Obviously, we want to follow up on any kind of concern that's raised by the public or the media (and) make sure we are following the strict code set by the health department," said Taco Cabana's Chief Marketing Officer Todd Coerver.
Coerver said they reviewed several locations, including the one in question, and found that everyone is following procedure. He also noted the most recent inspection prior to the Defenders' testing produced a score of 97.
Alamo Cafe's samples also yielded greater than 3,000 cfu/gram, but more concerning was the presence of E. coli at 100 CFU/gram. A second sample at Alamo Cafe came back clean.
In an email response, management explained, "Our salsa is prepared fresh daily and tasted by all managers on duty to ensure it's quality and consistency. We take the health and safety of our customers very seriously."
In response to the Defenders' inquiry about acceptable levels of E. coli, the health department said no level of E. coli is acceptable.
"That would be a definite issue. Whenever you have E. coli present, it's an issue. We would certainly want to go out and have a look," said Barscewski.
The health department did follow up with both restaurants and while they didn't find any violations they found a couple of procedures at each place that prompted some recommendations.
http://www.ksat.com/news/E-coli-found-in-SA-restaurant-salsa/-/478452/13513578/-/wnan5cz/-/index.html
Between the raw ingredients and the necessary handling, there is certainly opportunity for bacteria to make it's way into freshly prepared salsa.
KSAT's Defenders sampled salsa at Casarita on Thousand Oaks, Las Palapas on Callaghan, Alamo Cafe's I-10 location, Don Pedro on Southwest Military and at Taco Cabana on Broadway.
At all but two locations, the salsa samples came back clean.
Tests revealed Taco Cabana's salsa to have more than 3,000 colony forming units per gram of coliform. A second sample at Taco Cabana came back worse with a coliform level of 79,000 CFUs per gram.
"That would be a high count. We would certainly want to look at that facility," said Metro Health Sanitation Services Manager Stephen Barscewski.
Barscewski said there is no specific level of CFU/gram that would be considered safe or acceptable.
"As the levels go up, we become concerned," Barscewski said.
"Obviously, we want to follow up on any kind of concern that's raised by the public or the media (and) make sure we are following the strict code set by the health department," said Taco Cabana's Chief Marketing Officer Todd Coerver.
Coerver said they reviewed several locations, including the one in question, and found that everyone is following procedure. He also noted the most recent inspection prior to the Defenders' testing produced a score of 97.
Alamo Cafe's samples also yielded greater than 3,000 cfu/gram, but more concerning was the presence of E. coli at 100 CFU/gram. A second sample at Alamo Cafe came back clean.
In an email response, management explained, "Our salsa is prepared fresh daily and tasted by all managers on duty to ensure it's quality and consistency. We take the health and safety of our customers very seriously."
In response to the Defenders' inquiry about acceptable levels of E. coli, the health department said no level of E. coli is acceptable.
"That would be a definite issue. Whenever you have E. coli present, it's an issue. We would certainly want to go out and have a look," said Barscewski.
The health department did follow up with both restaurants and while they didn't find any violations they found a couple of procedures at each place that prompted some recommendations.
http://www.ksat.com/news/E-coli-found-in-SA-restaurant-salsa/-/478452/13513578/-/wnan5cz/-/index.html