Mmm, Excessive Cockroaches – Here Are the WORST Things Iowa Health Inspectors Reported

Mmm, cockroaches! Yummy. Said no one. I hope. If you do love cockroaches, you will be a big fan of what Iowa health inspectors found at one Iowa eatery.

Last month, inspectors released their report of what they found when they visited hundreds of the state's dining establishments. During some of the places they visited, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals found some... unnerving issues.

Here are some of the highlights. Or, perhaps I should say, lowlights of the report as detailed by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Trash food?

A restaurant called Cantaritos which is in Pella had a few... interesting violations. The most fascinating, they were cited for "Preparing food on top of trash can” Yep. That's a real, verbatim sentence from the report.

Also noted in that same report, the inspector noted no employees were seen washing their hands, even after the worker(s) switched from handling dirty dishes to clean ones. Food handlers were not wearing hairnets, and the floor tiles were noted as being in bad shape.

"Excessive amounts of deceased cockroaches"

Our next eatery is India Café in Iowa City. Iowa Capital Dispatch says during their visit on March 14th, the inspector spotted sticky traps located under a sink. This will, according to the inspector's report, lead to an "excessive amount of deceased cockroaches", that were not being replaced at an appropriate frequency.

The inspector also found that there were many spices being stored without a lid, even when the restaurant was closed.

Pitch the sushi

Ichiban Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar was visited on March 11 and had one real doozy. Sushi must be kept at the proper temperature to ensure it is safe to eat. The report says the sushi temperature was measured at 46-52 degrees. It was all tossed out. It was also noted in the report that the storage cooler did not have any temperature-measuring devices.

Luckily, at the end of the inspection, the sushi was tested again and the temps were at a safe 39 degrees.

If you're curious about how your favorite restaurant did in its recent inspection, you can find all that information on the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals site.