Roach problem continues as Chartwell’s contract not renewed

author: john loeppky | editor-in-chief

Mmmm extra protein/Pixabay

Food service contract to be put up for tender

As reported previously, the Riddell Centre’s pest problem has resurfaced. This development prompted a search at healthinspections.saskatchewan.ca, the website dedicated to recording food inspection results. Using a search of every outlet using the campus as their address, the results were totaled up. In all, taking into account only the most recent inspections, there were 26 infractions listed in the last six months. Below is a table illustrating the results.

Issues ranged from the aforementioned pests to easily remedied issues such as soap dispensers not being refilled often enough. While Henderson’s Cafe and Tim Horton’s being the home of the earlier pests, Luther’s main kitchen’s “…facility is not designed, and/or maintained to prevent the entry of pests.” according to the government site. Five food providers had zero infractions recorded.

In regard to some of the higher traffic stops on campus, Common Ground was found to not be outfitted with a suitable sink, and that both food equipment and surfaces “…are not made from materials that are suitable for their intended purpose, durable, easily cleanable, and/or free from any undesirable substance.”

Both Tim Horton’s and Henderson’s Cafe were found to have “inadequate storage space for food, ingredients, equipment, utensils, and other items necessary for the operation of the food facility.”

Fast Break was found to have a “portion of the food facility…not kept clean…” In addition, it was also found that “Extensions, renovations or alterations were made without local authority approval.” They were also cautioned for having their food license not visible to the general public.

At Pho in the Lab Building, it was found that “food is being prepared, and served in the absence of a person who has successfully completed a course in food sanitation.”

Meanwhile, the Owl’s lone issue was related to “food contact surfaces…not made from materials that are suitable for their intended purpose, durable, easily cleanable, and/or free from any undesirable substance.”

Both Connection Cafe and Henderson’s had issues with the cleaning of cloths, and the former was also without a full soap dispenser.

When reached for comment about the number of issues identified, Bettina Welsh, Director of Student Affairs, Operations, acknowledged, “Following up with them [Chartwell’s] has been a little bit tricky.”

Welsh acknowledged this was due to large staffing changes, including the lack of a chef and the lack of a director. Welsh outlined the steps the campus is taking to address the pest problem.

“The university is responsible for the equipment and the facilities, and so we have a committee that is working specifically on pest control, and so the university is doing everything that they can from a facility perspective.”

Welsh noted that Poulin’s is the contractor used for pest control at the university and called them “fairly aggressive when it comes to pest control” and called the measures taken by the university “overboard.” She also pointed toward the amount of work being done in the Riddell Centre as part of the problem.

“Getting pest control under control is very difficult because if we do everything right on the university proper side of things, so where university food services is… if we do everything right there, we get the cleaning schedule under control, we get rid of everything that doesn’t mean that the Owl or Henderson’s has their side under control and they can migrate over. There’s a real issue with having so many food providers in such a small space.”