Anti-fraud fight: in Grau-du-Roi, restaurateurs on the grill

Les températures des aliments sont scrupuleusement examinées. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

Drinking establishments, straw huts, restaurants, fast food… On July 30, Urssaf, DGfip and the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations examined several establishments in the seaside resort, as part of a Departmental Operational Committee for the Fight against Fraud (Codaf). In the presence of the gendarmes and at the request of the public prosecutor of Nîmes.

In the reserve of this restaurant which can accommodate up to 400 guests per day, Audrey Delonca in a white coat and a hairnet on her head lets nothing pass her by. Heading up the food safety department (SSA) at the Gard prefecture, the young woman is supervising the "hygiene and food safety" part of this operation to control six so-called "direct delivery of foodstuffs" establishments on this scorching Tuesday morning. A concerted operation, that day, with Urssaf and the DGfip.

Here at the gendarmerie, the agents take stock before leaving for the field. The soldiers ensure the security of the control operations. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

10 h 40. Faced with a dejected chef, the young woman and one of her inspectors point out and then note, one by one, the countless breaches of basic rules of hygiene and food storage: non-compliance with traceability and packaging requirements, breaks in the cold chain, etc.

In this reserve, which also serves as a cloakroom, fresh lettuce is carelessly stored on a trash can. In a freezer with a dirty and worn seal, bacon and burrata in trays are refrigerated at a temperature that is far too high to guarantee the restaurant's customers their safe consumption.

The non-compliant storage of vegetables intended for customers is sometimes done on the ground, or as here on a trash can. C.S. – Midi Libre

“The establishment clearly does not respect many risky processes, such as the storage of sensitive foods including seafood”, notes the chief inspector, thermometer in hand in front of a trash can on the floor filled with cooked mussels. Left at room temperature and clearly intended for the day's customers.

Closing immediately

After a long time in the kitchen – where spoiled bull meat will be found – Audrey Delonca and her colleague leave. Before announcing to the manager of the establishment that it is closing. Without delay.

“To this day, the health safety of consumers is no longer guaranteed within the restaurant. Given its operating conditions marked mainly by numerous breaches of general and food hygiene, or even poor temperature control. And more particularly of the cold chain”, justifies Audrey Delonca addressing the manager, devastated.

The hotplates don't look like they've been washed for several days. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

In front of a crying employee, while an Urssaf controller questions her about her weekly rest day, the restaurant manager then suggests to the inspectors that they close on their own, and immediately, structure, in order to escape an administrative closure (and the prefectural communication that would go with it).

Customers already seated in preparation for lunch are immediately invited to leave the premises, under the vigilant surveillance of the police. Soldiers from the Grau-du-Roi brigade (Compagnie de Vauvert) present, as at each inter-service check, throughout the duration of the operations, for obvious security reasons.

In their presence, the boss committed around midday to quickly bringing his establishment up to standard. Or, to carry out a major cleaning, particularly of the kitchen, in its disgusting state.

The kitchen floor is, even before service, particularly dirty. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

So far without incident, having a storefront in the Gard seaside resort, the reopening of this restaurant now on hold will be subject to a new inspection. An inspection during which Audrey Delonca and her inspectors will verify – scrupulously – that its operating conditions no longer represent any risk, either for the safety or for the health of the population.

This Tuesday, July 30, at the same time as this inspection, a café-restaurant in Grau-du-Roi was subject to administrative closure. A third establishment in the seaside resort was given a warning.

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