Chef James Bistro in Rand Dining Hall received a score of 75 following a routine Tennessee Department of Health inspection on Aug. 20. This score falls within the ‘Needs Improvement’ category — the second-lowest tier — and is assigned when several high-risk violations are present.
TDH observed violations regarding food consumption, hand washing, hand washing supplies, food conditions, date marking, labeling and contamination prevention. Five of the nine violations were corrected immediately, including training employees to wash their hands in between handling dirty and clean dishes and separating damaged food cans from intact ones to mitigate the danger of C. botulinum, the bacteria responsible for botulism.
This score is the lowest that Rand’s Chef James Bistro kitchen has received in its last seven routine inspections, dating back to Sept. 23, 2021. Inspections prior to this date are not available on TDH’s website. In a same-day follow-up inspection, after corrections for noncompliance, the location received a score of 97.
“Our official score for the Rand health inspection on Aug. 20 was a 97. This score is posted above the salad bar at Rand for visibility,” Campus Dining said in a Sept. 10 email to The Hustler.
Bill Christian, a media representative for the Tennessee Department of Health, clarified that both routine and follow-up inspections are considered “official.”
“Follow-up inspections are required whenever a priority item is found to be in non-compliance on a routine inspection,” Christian said in an email to The Hustler. “To reduce the risk posed by the presence of non-compliant priority items, immediate corrective actions are encouraged whenever possible. When all priority items found in non-compliance on a routine inspection are corrected immediately, staff conducts immediate follow-up inspections.”
Other Campus Dining locations inspected on Aug. 20 include the Rand Basement Kitchen and Rothschild College, which received scores of 91 and 98, respectively. Scores above 90 are considered ‘Good,’ those between 86 and 90 ‘Adequate,’ those between 71 and 85 as ‘Needs Improvement’ and those below 71 as ‘Poor.’
Senior Saksham Sharma said he “wasn’t surprised” by the news. Students have expressed frustration over Campus Dining’s changes this semester.
“Based on how the student dining experience has been so far this year, it’s no shock that the health inspection wasn’t on par with previous years,” Sharma said.
Senior Vania Sih, co-president of the Vanderbilt Culinary Club, said her club has an ongoing collaboration with Campus Dining and has hosted various events in Rand Dining Hall, including midnight breakfast and a culinary competition.
“I hope that the Dining services team is proactive in addressing the specific issues highlighted in the inspection report,” Sih said. “For future Culinary Club events hosted at Rand, we hope to uphold a positive and safe dining experience for students and staff involved.”
