BYU eateries spick-and-span

PROVO — Despite cafeteria stereotypes, eateries on Brigham Young University's campus are some of the city's safest places to eat, according to health department records.

The Utah County Environmental Health Department is in charge of inspecting all BYU Dining Services entities, including concession stands at athletic events and restaurants in the Wilkinson Student Center, which serve more than 33,000 meals each day during the school year.

Health Department records show that BYU Dining Services has received overall good scores on their inspections.

The unannounced biannual inspections cover areas including food protection, water, food equipment, utensils, hand washing, bathrooms, plumbing and management. Food must never remain sitting, at 40 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit for more than four hours.

Inspectors test food temperature to ensure it is safe.

The Health Department has the authority to suspend a restaurant's permit to operate if there is a serious health threat anywhere in the restaurant.

"I really think BYU does a good job, and their management does care," said Jay Stone, Utah County Environmental Health Department food program manager.

A national survey of more than 400 universities and colleges ranks BYU 15 percent higher than the national average for student satisfaction of campus meals.

"I really think we are the forefront," said Dean Wright, director of BYU's dining services the third-largest university dining service in the nation.

However, despite the praise, BYU has had a few minor slaps on the wrist.

The Creamery on Ninth notched several violations during a September 2004 inspection that included hygienic violations. All violations were corrected within 24 hours of the store being notified of its problems.

"We have procedures in place, and the next day it was corrected," Wright said.

Inspection records show high scores for all Cougareat restaurants, a collection of 10 food vendors in the Wilkinson Student Center. Restaurants include Taco Bell, Subway and Freschetta pizza and employ more than 350 student employees. However, occasional violations were given for non-hygienic actions, such as not washing hands between tasks or not properly using gloves in food preparation areas.

The Cougareat has frequent training meetings and daily employee training, which include reminders about health and sanitation issues as well as implementing a new policy that requires one employee to stay on cash-register duty.