The College's dining facilities all received satisfactory ratings from the Ewing Township Department of Health in its latest inspection.
The inspection, performed Feb. 3 by W. Allen Lee, Ewing Township health officer, revealed only minor violations that presented no danger to public health.
A rating of satisfactory is the highest possible grade for a health inspection. Conditional satisfactory means that there are violations that can be dangerous and need to be fixed, while a grade of unsatisfactory forces the shutdown of the facility.
Lee said that health inspectors especially examine the temperatures for the refrigeration and heating of food. All of the College's dining facilities were satisfactory concerning food temperatures, he said, although the freezer in the Rathskeller was keeping food at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, a bit high.
Lee's report of Eickhoff noted some minor violations. He said that water was leaking from the ceiling in the area where the dishwashers are kept. Facilities workers had to come and fix the problem.
Lee also requested that the College install sneeze guards for the selection of baked goods.
In the food court at Brower Student Center, Lee found that the temperature of the water coming from the sink in the kitchen fluctuated, a problem for the proper washing of dishes. Sodexho assured him that the problem would be fixed.
Lee said that the College's main problem, although minor, is the smoothness of surfaces in the areas where food and waste are kept. He found that some floor tiles were rough in parts of Eickhoff and the Rathskeller, which could lead to food getting stuck on the floor and eventually to pest problems.
However, Lee said that he has not received any complaints about pest problems in any College building "within the last three or four years."
"Cooper does a good exterminating job," he said, referring to Cooper Pest Control Inc., the College's exterminator. Lee found no evidence of rats, mice or fruit flies during his inspection.
Lee's final recommendation for the College was to purchase concrete pads to go under the dumpsters throughout the campus. Without these pads, he said, trash can scatter on the ground and end up near storm drains that filter into the lakes on campus.
As for dining options off campus, Lee said that restaurants in Ewing consistently comply with the New Jersey State Sanitary Code.
"All in all, you can't go wrong," he said.
He said that the only restaurants that have had health violations are IHOP, located on Olden Avenue, and Vino's Pizza, located on Prospect Street.
IHOP was given a rating of conditional satisfactory after problems with grease and plumbing. Lee called it a place he "tends to be at more than others."
Vino's Pizza has had problems with a leaking sewage line and dirty bathrooms.
