Which Merced County food business failed health inspections recently?
In recent inspections conducted over the past few weeks, one Merced County food business earned a failing grade in a food-safety inspection from the county’s Environmental Health Division.
Twenty restaurants across the county were inspected between May 5 through May 19 and also an inspection on April 28 that was posted last week, which revealed an “unsatisfactory” rating for Dino Mart in Los Banos.
The other 19 food businesses received “good” ratings after inspections.
The county gives “good” ratings to businesses with six or fewer violation points, “satisfactory” ratings for seven to 13 violation points, and “unsatisfactory” ratings for 14 or more violation points.
Dino Mart received an “unsatisfactory” rating for the following violations:
▪ All food contact surfaces of utensils and equipment shall be clean and sanitized.
▪ All food employees shall have adequate knowledge of and be trained in food safety as it relates to their assigned duties. The person in charge shall have adequate knowledge of, and shall educate employees of the food facility regarding major food allergens.
▪ Potentially hazardous foods shall be held at or below 41-45 degrees or at or above 135 degrees.
Those problems and others added up to 24 violation points for the food mart.
Businesses that received perfect scores with no violations were:
▪ Westside Union Intermediate School, Los Banos.
▪ Los Banos Unified School District.
▪ Henry Miller School, Los Banos
▪ Cardenas Market, Merced.
▪ Our Lady of Fatima School, Los Banos
▪ Livingston High School (food/pool).
▪ Lorena Falasco Elementary School, Los Banos.
▪ Charleston School, Los Banos.
▪ Carniceria El Jarocho, Merced
▪ R.M. Miano School, Los Banos.
▪ Joe Stefani Elementary School, Merced.
▪ Franklin School, Merced.
The inspections represent a snapshot of conditions found at the time of a visit and may not indicate a pattern of good or bad food safety practices.
In most instances, if an inspector finds a problem, it’s something that can be fixed on the spot. This can include having enough bleach or sanitizer in the water used to wipe down food-preparation areas, replenishing soap, paper towels and toilet paper in the restrooms, or reminding employees to wash their hands and wear gloves and hairnets.
Some violations are considered more serious and, in some instances, can result in immediate closure of restaurants or food businesses when they are observed by health inspectors. Those may include insect or vermin infestations; refrigerators that don’t keep food cold enough or steam tables that don’t keep food hot enough to inhibit bacterial growth, or clogged sinks or drains that cause contaminated water to back up into kitchens.
A lack of hot water is one of the most common violations that health inspectors find when they make their routine visits. Hot water at a temperature of at least 120 degrees is considered important by inspectors for safely washing pots, pans, dishes and glasses, and 100 degrees for employees to wash their hands.
Merced County’s Environmental Health Division maintains a database of restaurant and food inspections online for public viewing at its web page, www.countyofmerced.com/597/Environmental-Health; click the “Food Inspections” tab along the left side of the page.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
