ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Gas stations and convenience stores in St. Joseph, Mo., are selling more hot foods, creating so-called "mini-restaurants" without employees receiving adequate food safety training, the city's Health Department said, according to a report by The St. Joseph News-Press. Later this year, health inspectors will double surprise visits at all c-stores, from the once-yearly health inspections that have been adequate until now, the report said.
"It's just becoming more and more that they're trying to sell everything because they're not making it off [image-nocss] the gas," Rick Messa, an inspector with the St. Joseph-Buchanan County Health Department, told the newspaper.
Like new city restaurants, c-stores are required to inform the Health Department before they begin selling food, but Messa said that rarely happens.
Besides food, inspectors say mold and mildew on pop nozzles remain the common health violation, especially in the summertime. Bacteria grows on pop heads when syrup isn't flushed off on a regular basis. But the only way the average customer can know is to pull off the nozzle or watch for whether a "big, long slimy thing drops into your drink," Messa said.
Like the old way to judge a restaurant's kitchen was by the cleanliness of the bathroom, Health Inspector Kim Costen suggested customers take a hard look at their favorite gas station during their next visit. "The overall cleanliness will give you a good clue on how they're managing," she told the paper.
If the hot food momentum keeps up, Messa said, stations and c-stores should be prepared to be treated with scrutiny usually reserved for full-fledged restaurants.
"When they sold only prepackaged food, an inspection once a year was enough," Messa said. "But it's getting to be a fine line between what the heck is a convenience store and what is now almost a deli-type situation."
Gas stations counter they only provide one-stop convenience to customers accustomed to the Wal-Mart model of tires, toys and tomatoes under one roof, said the report.
A year ago, the owner of Fill Up Guys on South U.S. Highway 169 built a back-kitchen. Each morning now, staff at the 24-hour Philips 66 fry doughnuts. For lunch, they cook complete fried chicken meals. Manager Beth Orr said the customer response has been tremendous. "People don't have to go to several counters. We ring them up in one place: gas, anything in the convenience store, and food," she told the News-Press.
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