Local News
BY BLAKE SCHMIDT, STAFF WRITER
Jun 15, 2005
Although his restaurant was at the center of a hepatitis A scare in Yuma last week, John Gutierrez is no less certain that he keeps his place clean.
To prove a point, he invited a restaurant inspector and a reporter from The Sun into Chile Pepper, where, he says, sales had decreased 90 percent since reports surfaced that one of his workers was infected with hepatitis A.
But Gutierrez knew that Chile Pepper received an “excellent” score on its last health inspection and that his facilities are up to county standards.

The county’s environmental health manager Brian O’Green agreed.
“We aren’t going to find much here. Chile Pepper has always been a very clean facility,”O’Green said.
The Yuma County Health Department bases its inspection ratings on a variety of criteria such as food and refrigeration temperature checks, handwashing procedures, proper storage and general cleanliness, according to O’Green.
O’Green took The Sun on a brief walkthrough of Chile Pepper restaurant Tuesday, pointing out criteria and indicators that health inspectors look for on twice-yearly inspections.
O’Green was quick to point out the importance of handwashing areas.
“You have to make sure the handwash area is clean,” said O’Green. Gutierrez agreed, adding that making sure employees wash their hands is a way to prevent the spread of infections such as hepatitis A.
O’Green briefly checked the dumpster area for running grease and loose trash, which he said was “very clean,” before moving on to the refrigerators.
At 34 degrees, the refrigerator was “nice and cold,” said O’Green. The walk-in refrigerator, at 41 degrees, was also up to standards.
“Anything from 50 to 55 degrees becomes unacceptable,” said O’Green.
O’Green then took his thermometer to the hot foods. He found temperatures that were safely above the minimum requirement of 130 degrees for a hot dish.He measured the green chile at 165 degrees.
“There’s not anything that’s gonna live in that,” he said, adding that anything bubbling could be assumed to be above 130 degrees.
Turning his attention toward the ground, O’Green said the floors were “immaculate.”
“No spills. Here I can use the expression ëclean as a whistle,’ ” O’Green said.
O’Green said there are a few other basic indicators that inspectors look for to gauge the general cleanliness of a restaurant: vents, lids, can openers and meats stored at the bottom.
“Vents without filters can suggest that a place might get behind on other things,” O’Green said, adding that Chile Pepper’s vents were in good condition.
When looking at storage, O’Green looked for items to have lids on them, which would reduce the chance of germs spreading. Raw meats stored at the top of a refrigerator is another way for germs to spread, O’Green said, by dripping down onto other foods. Thus, O’Green suggested that raw meats should be stored at the bottom of refrigerators.Chile Pepper was clean on both accounts, O’Green said.
O’Green then grabbed the can opener, saying, “You can always tell if a restaurant’s clean by a clean can opener, since they use it 20 times a day or more.” Chili Pepper’s can opener was clean, he said, and the canned goods looked good and free of any dents that could suggest mishandling of the food.
Finally, O’Green checked Chile Pepper’s paperwork. An updated permit and food handler’s certificates for all workers were standard criteria that Chile Pepper met. Other indicators O’Green looked for were rodent droppings or insect infestations; clean water in the three-compartment-sink; properly labeled cleaning utensils; and a properly functioning air-conditioning system.
Yuma County Health inspections can result in one of four ratings. The “excellent” rating, which Chile Pepper received six months ago, means the inspector didn’t find any violations that were worthy of noting. More than half of the restaurants that the Yuma County Health Department inspects receive an excellent rating, according to O’Green. Most of the rest receive a “satisfactory” rating, which suggests that the restaurant meets health inspection standards but might need to improve on a few small things. The “needs improvements” is a less common rating which suggests the need to improve on more things, and the “unacceptable” is a rare rating that merits an immediate closing.
Gutierrez, who used to wake up before classes in grade school to make tortillas, said that his facilities have always been up to standards. Chile Pepper, which was founded in 1944 by Gutierrez’s mother and father, is now at its second location.
The restaurant has struggled over the past week due to the hepatitis A scare surrounding its name.
“Hepatitis is something that could happen to any restaurant.It was brought here, not created here,” said Gutierrez.
Elena Martinez, the 67-year-old manager at Chile Pepper, said she makes sure employees are always wearing hairnets, gloves and washing their hands.
“Mrs. Gutierrez is very strict, and makes sure we’re all working and it’s clean,” Martinez said, referring to Bessie Gutierrez, one of the founders and now part-owner of the restaurant.
Gutierrez said he hadn’t had to fire any of his 35 employees, and had no plans to do so. “All we can do is take it a day at a time,” said Gutierrez, adding that because of his loyal customers, Chili Peppers is one of Yuma’s restaurants that doesn’t have to rely on the business of winter visitors.