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DIRTY DINING: 99 Ranch Market

Posted at 10:46 PM, May 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-19 03:00:29-04

Many supermarkets cook and sell prepared meals, and that's just what got one into trouble with health inspectors.  

Could it be your grocery store? Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears has a bonus Dirty Dining.

Walking in to 99 Ranch Market on Maryland Parkway between Katie and Twain avenues, we send 'em running. 

One employee does a "Now you see me, now you don't" as he literally runs to the back of the store after seeing our camera. 

It's not long after, that we begin to be surrounded by big guys wielding handheld radios.

Then, the running man reappears. We ask for the person in charge of the deli.

"I got the store manager coming right now," the employee says.

We wait at the deli, which is operating with a 30-demerit C grade. All the while, our "escorts" keep watch. 

Health inspectors found water from thawing raw duck and chicken draining directly onto thawing raw beef. Raw chicken was also stored at room temperature. 

And a whole raw pig was left unattended on the back prep table at room temperature. 

There was excessive water, food build-up and debris throughout the facility -- on floors, walls and beneath equipment. 

And holy cross-contamination, Batman! Raw duck and chicken were thawing in the same basin as raw pork. 

Other violations inspectors found were a large bowl of raw chicken stored directly on top of another uncovered bowl of raw chicken. 

Grocery bags and garbage bags were used to store whole raw pork, cooked dumplings and egg rolls. 

And there was a lot of old, dried food debris on the can opener, deli slicer and egg slicer blades. 

Finally, the manager appears. The manager says they have no comment and directs us to the legal department.

Would the legal department know about the cutting boards that were no longer cleanable? The excessively dirty wiping cloths and the wooden planks used as shelving in the cooler?

We called the legal department at the supermarket's parent company in Southern California. 

A spokesperson said they're aware of the C grade and are working with staff and the Health District to clean things up and correct all violations. 

99 Ranch Market's deli still has a C grade.