Okinawa Steak and Sushi in Canton receives a 51% on their recent health inspection

Okinawa Steak and Sushi, located at 1359 Riverstone Pkwy Ste 120 in Canton, received a score of 51 points out of a possible 100 points during their 03/04/2026 inspection by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The violations noted by the inspector were:

Violation #1:
1-2A – pic present, demonstrates knowledge, performs duties
511-6-1.03(2)(a)-(n)(p),(q) – responsibility of pic (pf)
Points: 4
Corrected during inspection?: No
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed several critical violations with the potential to cause foodborne illness during inspection. 511-6-1.03(2)(a)-(n)(p),(q) – Responsibility of PIC (Pf) (a)Operations Not Conducted in Private Home. Food service establishment operations are not conducted in a private home or in a room used as living or sleeping quarters; Pf (b) Authorized Personnel Access. Persons unnecessary to the food service establishment operation are not allowed in the food preparation, food storage, or warewashing areas, except that brief visits and tours may be authorized by the person in charge if steps are taken to ensure that exposed food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles are protected from contamination; Pf (c) Authorized Persons Compliance. Employees and other persons such as delivery and maintenance persons and pesticide applicators entering the food preparation, food storage, and warewashing areas comply with this Chapter; Pf (d) Employee Handwashing. Employees are effectively cleaning their hands, by routinely monitoring the employees’ handwashing; Pf (e) Monitoring of Receiving. Employees are visibly observing and verifying delivered foods as they are received to determine that they are from approved sources and are placed into appropriate storage locations, as required by this Chapter, such that they are received and maintained at the required temperatures, protected from contamination, unadulterated, and accurately presented, by routinely monitoring the employees’ observations, maintaining receiving/corrective action records for deliveries during non-operating hours, and periodically evaluating foods upon their receipt as specified within DPH Rule 511-6-1-.04(3)(m);Pf (f) Monitoring of Receiving during Non-Operating Hours. Employees are verifying that foods delivered to the food service establishment during non-operating hours are from approved sources and are placed into appropriate storage locations such that they are maintained at the required temperatures, protected from contamination, unadulterated, accurately presented, by routinely monitoring the employees’ observations, maintaining receiving/corrective action records for deliveries during non-operating hours and periodically evaluating foods upon their receipt as specified within DPH Rule 511-6-1-.04(3)(m);Pf (g) Proper Cooking Techniques. Employees are properly cooking, cold/hot holding, and reheating for hot holding time/temperature control for safety food, being particularly careful in cooking, reheating, and holding those foods known to cause severe foodborne illness and death, such as eggs and comminuted meats, through daily oversight of the employees’ routine monitoring of the cooking, holding, and reheating for hot holding temperatures using appropriate temperature measuring devices properly scaled and calibrated;Pf (h) Proper Cooling Methods. Employees are using proper methods to rapidly cool time/temperature control for safety food, that are not held hot or are not for consumption within four hours, through daily oversight of the employees’ routine monitoring of food temperatures during cooling;Pf (i) Proper Thawing. Food employees are properly maintaining the temperature of Time/Temperature control for safety foods during thawing through daily oversight of the food employee’s routine monitoring of food temperatures;Pf (j) Consumer Food Safety. Consumers who order raw or partially cooked ready-to-eat foods of animal origin are informed that the food is not cooked sufficiently to ensure its safety;Pf (k) Proper Sanitizing. Employees are properly sanitizing cleaned multiuse equipment and utensils before they are reused, through routine monitoring of solution temperature and exposure time for hot water sanitizing, and chemical concentration, pH, temperature, and exposure time for chemical sanitizing;Pf (l) Clean Tableware. Consumers are notified that clean tableware is to be used when they return to self-service areas such as salad bars and buffets;Pf (m) Bare Hand Contact. Unless the conditions specified in DPH Rule 511-6-1-.04(4)(a)4. are met, employees are preventing cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food with bare hands by properly using suitable utensils such as deli tissue, spatulas, tongs, single-use gloves, or dispensing equipment;Pf (n) Food Safety Training. Employees are properly trained in food safety, including food allergy awareness, as it relates to their assigned duties. Food allergy awareness includes describing foods identified as major food allergens and the symptoms that a major food allergen could cause in a sensitive individual who has an allergic reaction;Pf (o) Reporting Responsibilities. Food employees and conditional employees are informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report in accordance with the Chapter, to the person in charge, information about their health and activities as they relate to diseases that are transmissible through food;Pf (p) Imminent Health Hazard. If an imminent health hazard exists because of an emergency such as a fire, flood, interruption of electrical or water service for two or more hours, sewage malfunction, misuse of poisonous or toxic materials, onset of an apparent foodborne illness outbreak, gross unsanitary occurrence or condition, or other circumstances that may endanger public health, then operations are immediately discontinued and the Health Authority is notified. P However, establishments may continue to operate based upon emergency guidance provided by the Health Authority or under an emergency operation plan that has been approved by the Health Authority prior to the occurrence of such emergency events; Pf and (q) Procedures and Plans. Written procedures and plans, where specified by this Chapter and as developed by the food service establishment, are maintained and implemented as required. PIC must ensure staff are properly practicing food safety procedures.

Violation #2:
2-1B – hands clean and properly washed
511-6-1.03(5)(c) – when to wash (p)
Points: 9
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed employee with gloves handle dirty dishes, then proceed to put away clean dishes without changing gloves in between. 511-6-1.03(5)(c) – When to Wash (P) (c) When to Wash. 1. Food employees shall clean their hands and exposed portions of their arms immediately before engaging in food preparation including working with exposed food, clean equipment and utensils, and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles P and: (i) After touching bare human body parts other than clean hands and clean, exposed arms; P (ii) After using the toilet room; P (iii) After caring for or handling service animals or aquatic animals; P (iv) After coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or disposable tissue, using tobacco products or electronic devices that simulate tobacco smoking, eating or drinking, except for drinking from a closed beverage container and the container is handled to prevent contamination of the hands;P (v) After handling soiled equipment or utensils; P (vi) During food preparation, as often as necessary to remove soil and contamination and to prevent cross contamination when changing tasks; P (vii) When switching between working with raw food and working with ready-to-eat food; P (viii) Before donning gloves to initiate a task that involves working with food; P and (ix) After engaging in other activities that contaminate the hands. P 2. All employees shall wash hands before leaving the restroom. All food employees leaving the restroom shall wash their hands again upon re-entering the food preparation area. COS by rewashing dishes and hands.

Violation #3:
2-2B – proper eating, tasting, drinking, or tobacco use
511-6-1.03(5)(k)1&2 – eating, drinking, or using tobacco (c)
Points: 4
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: Yes
Inspector Notes: Observed employee drink on prep counter next to prep top unit. Employees shall consume food only in approved designated areas separate from food preparation and serving areas, equipment or utensil areas and food storage areas. However, drinking from a single service beverage cup with a secure lid and straw that is handled to prevent contamination of the employee’s hands, the container, exposed food, clean equipment, utensils and linens, unwrapped single-service and single-use articles will be allowed. COS by moving drink. Health Authority suggests keeping employee food and other items in a separate designated area labeled “employee”.

Violation #4:
4-1A – food separated and protected
511-6-1.04(4)(c)1(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii) – packaged & unpackaged food separation, packaging, and segregation (p, c)
Points: 9
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed raw beef and raw shelled eggs stored directly above containers of ready to eat sauce in reach in cooler under prep top unit. Must practice proper vertical storage and store raw meats below ready to eat items. COS by moving raw meat. Will email PIC vertical storage hand out.

Violation #5:
6-1A – proper cold holding temperatures
511-6-1.04(6)(f) – time/temperature control for safety; cold holding (p)
Points: 9
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed yum yum sauce on improper ice bath, temping above 41°F. As mentioned last inspection. a proper ice bath should be roughly 80% ice, 20% water and come up to the highest level of the food. Health Authority suggests using Time as a Public Health Control for yum yum sauce instead of ice bath. COS by adding TPHC documentation. Will email PIC TPHC written procedure. Must fill out and keep on file for future inspections.

Violation #6:
6-1A – proper cold holding temperatures
511-6-1.04(6)(f) – time/temperature control for safety; cold holding (p)
Points: 9
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: Yes
Inspector Notes: Observed several TCS foods cold held above 41°F in reach in cooler under prep top. The ambient air temperature (AAT) was 49°F. TCS food must be cold held at 41°F or below. COS by discarding some items and moving other items to different coolers. Must ensure cooler can consistently cold hold TCS food at 41°F before cold holding within it again. Health Authority highly suggests to set the air temperature to 36-37°F.

Violation #7:
6-1A – proper cold holding temperatures
511-6-1.04(6)(f) – time/temperature control for safety; cold holding (p)
Points: 9
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed large container of yum yum sauce temping 48°F in walk in cooler. TCS food must be cold held at 41°F or below. COS by discarding.

Violation #8:
6-1B – proper hot holding temperatures
511-6-1.04(6)(f) – time/temperature control for safety; hot holding (p)
Points: 9
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed chicken soup hot held below 135°F on stove top in wok. TCS food must be hot held at 135°F or discarded. COS by discarding. Must ensure heat is left on stove.

Violation #9:
6-2 – proper date marking and disposition
511-6-1.04(6)(h) – ready-to-eat time/temperature control for safety food, disposition (p)
Points: 4
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: Yes
Inspector Notes: Observed ranch with a prep date of 2/25 in walk in cooler, and cooked shrimp with a prep date of 2/25 in reach in cooler under prep top unit. TCS food subject to date marking must be used or discarded within 7 days, day of prep counting as day 1. COS by discarding.

Violation #10:
6-2 – proper date marking and disposition
511-6-1.04(6)(g) – ready-to-eat time/temperature control for safety food, date marking (pf)
Points: 4
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed employee date marking items prepared several days before at start of inspection. Must date mark TCS foods prepped and held for more than 24 hours.

Violation #11:
12A – contamination prevented during food preparation, storage, display
511-6-1.04(4)(z) – miscellaneous sources of contamination (c)
Points: 3
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed bowls (with food garnishes inside) stacked directly on top of each other, resulting in the bottom of the bowls directly touching the garnishes. As mentioned last inspection, food must be protected from miscellanous sources of contamination. Must have protective layer in between each bowl. COS by separating bowls.

Violation #12:
12A – contamination prevented during food preparation, storage, display
511-6-1.04(4)(t) – food preparation (c)
Points: 3
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed employee rinsing knife used to cut raw meat into veggie prep sink. Also observed remnants of raw meat and veggies at the bottom of both the veggie prep sink and meat sink. Food must be protected from environmental sources of contamination when prepped. COS by cleaning veggie sink.

Violation #13:
12A – contamination prevented during food preparation, storage, display
511-6-1.04(4)(q) – food storage (c)
Points: 3
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed marinated ginger butter stored directly on the floor in main kitchen area. Food must be stored 6 inches off floor. COS to moving to walk in cooler.

Violation #14:
12C – wiping cloths: properly used and stored
511-6-1.04(4)(m) – wiping cloths, use limitation (c)
Points: 3
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed sanitizer bucket at 10 ppm Cl- in bar area. For proper sanitation, sanitizer buckets must be 50-100 ppm Cl-. COS by adding more bleach.

Violation #15:
14B – utensils, equipment and linens: properly stored, dried, handled
511-6-1.05(10)(a) – equipment & utensils, air-drying required (c)
Points: 1
Corrected during inspection?: Yes
Repeat: No
Inspector Notes: Observed several cups stacked while wet near yum yum sauce ice bath. As mentioned last inspection, must allow dishes to fully air dry before stacking. COS by separating cups.

Additional remarks:
Discussed:
-PIC is using Time as a Public Health Control (TPHC) for rice in steam well at bar. Must ensure discard time is on label along with start time.
-Must date mark TCS foods thawed and held for more than 24 hours. Must use within 7 days (day of thaw is day 1).
-Must address small gap in between front doors to prevent pest entry.
-Must address low grout & cracked tiles throughout main kitchen.
*EHP in place.
*sanitizer – 10 ppm Cl- (bar bucket), 100 ppm Cl- (bar, corrective action), 50 ppm Cl- (bucket, kitchen)
*dish machine – 100 ppm Cl-
**Inspection conducted from 12:30 PM – 1:50 PM, typed and discussed from 1:55 PM – 3:30 PM.
**Follow up inspection will be conducted within 10 days.
**PIC was asked to voluntarily close until meeting with District & County Manager to create an action plan.

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