TAMPA, FL -- They mix it, cut it, weigh it, roll it, and bake it: making Cuban bread at Mauricio Faedo's Bakery is what they do best.
But during our latest Dirty Dining investigation, where we looked at state records of Tampa Bay area bakeries, Mauricio's and two other bakeries received low marks from state inspectors.
On a recent visit to Mauricio's, we talked to Maria Jose, who was in charge of the store at that time.
Jose hasn't worked at Mauricio's for long, so she didn't know inspectors demanded 50 pounds of raw dough had to be thrown out in August because of insects.
Inspectors found live flies landing on the raw, uncovered dough and ants crawling on pastry pans.
Mauricio's also had to shut down their entire processing room for 24 hours that day because all equipment, prep tables, and flat sheet pans were unsanitary.
The Tampa based bakery has had six inspection reports over the last year, receiving three poor sanitation ratings and three fair ratings.
The best rating from the state is a good.
When we spoke to the owner's daughter on the phone, she refused to comment, but the business eventually provided a written response.
“Our family bakery has always been a clean bakery with the best ingredients available on the market. The violations used by the health department were issued by an inspector who was negligent on her part and is no longer assigned to our location,” signed Mauricio Faedo.
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Food Compliance Officer Greg Johnson works for the Department of Agriculture. He says all violations concern him, not just critical ones.
Johnson says bakeries are inspected three to four times a year, unless they have critical violations.
"We're under what's called variable inspections and if they receive a good or a fair, it's going to be around every three months. But if they get a poor inspection, we're going to be there every 2 weeks," Johnson stated.
Johnson says he inspects 400 firms and his job is all about asking lots of questions.
"First question is do you have a permit? Second question is do you have a certified food manager?" said Johnson.
Why is a certified food manager so important?
"Because you want a person that's trained that has some knowledge about food safety," Johnson says.
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Cal Kiser of Don Pan International Bakery at 202 North Dale Mabry says they bake fresh every day.
He says they are meticulous about keeping temperature logs of all products, so he was shocked when inspectors ordered 34 packages of meatpies and sandwiches thrown out in September due to improper temperatures and no food log.
"We were really following thecode. There's nothing wrong with what we were doing. It's just that the log was not where it should have been," Kiser admitted.
Kaiser says his employee misplaced the log during that inspection.
Inspectors gave the bakery three fair grades and one poor grade over the last year and found no certified food manager on duty in September.
But Kiser guarantees his place is now up to code.
"We would like to have the reputation of the cleanest kitchen in Tampa," Kiser said.
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Don Pan isn't the only place looking to improve their reputation.
International Bakery and Grocery on Drew Street in Clearwater had a major insect problem in July.
Food safety inspectors halted all food preparation and use of equipment because of a roach infestation.
During that same month, inspectors also made them throw out adulterated grilled eggplant pulp, expired dairy spread, and various pastries because of improper temperatures.
Johnson says inspectors will continue to come down hard on facilities that don't comply but many are actually improving on their own when it comes to sanitation.
