Two KFC locations in Erie are closed following months of violations and citations from the Erie County Department of Health.
The KFC locations on Parade Street and Buffalo Road are closed while the restaurants work to address cleanliness and maintenance issues identified by health officials.
Jesse Stiles, director of Environmental Health Services for the Erie County Department of Health, said the department began noticing a trend in complaints involving KFC locations several months ago.
“Several months ago, we started receiving and noticing a trend in the complaints regarding the KFC facilities within Erie County,” Stiles said. “Three out of the four facilities, we started seeing an elevation in the complaints, and they all seemed to be regarding the general cleanliness of the facility, as well as the general appearance and maintenance of the facility.”
Stiles said the health department investigated the complaints and found that the majority were valid.
“Upon further investigation, we found that the majority of them were founded, and due to the nature of those complaints, rather than immediate closure, we went with a compliance program with them,” he said.
The Erie County Health Department met with KFC corporate representatives, who detailed their plan to address the violations. The health department offered revisions to the plan, but over the following months, the locations continued to receive citations and violations for issues that had not been addressed.
“We got to the point where we are right now, where some of those facilities had to be closed in order for them to be able to properly address the issues they were having,” Stiles said.
Peach Street KFC Reopens
The KFC on Peach Street was also recently closed for similar violations but has since reopened after addressing enough of the issues to satisfy health officials.
“The Peach Street location is one that’s also been closed down recently, allowed to reopen because they rectified their issues enough to be able to reopen, but they still have more work to do as well,” Stiles said.
Health Officials: Violations Do Not Indicate Food Safety Risk
While the violations prompted closures, Stiles said the majority of the issues identified do not represent what the health department considers food safety risk factors.
“Majority of the issues with the three that we’re seeing are not what we would call risk factor violations for food safety,” Stiles said.
He said the majority of the violations involve the general cleanliness and maintenance of the facilities.
“Majority of them are having to do with just the general cleanliness and maintenance of the facility, the lobby itself not being kept in a very good state of cleanliness or repair, as well as some of the restrooms,” Stiles said.
What Will It Take for the Locations to Reopen?
The Parade Street and Buffalo Road locations will remain closed until the identified issues are addressed and the restaurants pass a reinspection by the Erie County Department of Health.
Stiles said KFC will contact the health department when the company believes the work is complete.
“They will contact us when they feel they’re done with all of those issues. We will reinspect them, and if they pass the inspection, we will happily open them back up for business,” Stiles said.