Only one violation corrected in Mexican restaurant's recent county food test

A Mexican restaurant in the Cy-Fair area recently passed its county food safety inspection, though one problem was corrected on site.

Harris County officials paid their regular visit to Casa Imperial, 10923 FM 1960 W., on March 10. They gave the restaurant four demerits out of a possible 100 in their official report. An establishment must earn 20 demerits to be automatically considered "of concern" and in need of a follow-up visit, though inspectors can also order a follow-up at their discretion.

Inspectors indicated they gave the demerits for a violation of "good hygienic practices" rules, which could mean open beverage containers in the kitchen, unsafe hand-washing practices, or eating, drinking or smoking in unapproved areas. It is one of the kinds of violations the county website lists as being more commonly associated with food-borne illness by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The problem was fixed during the inspectors' visit.

The score is a relative improvement over Casa Imperial's most recent round of inspections. On Nov. 3, 2010, county staff ordered a follow-up after the restaurant received 13 demerits for four violations. The restaurant received zero demerits in the follow-up, however.

Casa Imperial received three demerits in each of its July 2010 and March 2010 inspections.

For more information on how Harris County conducts food safety inspections, visit www.hcphes.org.