Aug 24, 2009 11:00 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: Possible Surprise In Liquor Down The Shore
Reporting
Jim Osman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
During the summer, lots of us take extra time off to kick back on vacation. And celebrating that time off might include a drink at some of our area's favorite bars and taverns.
If you're headed to the Jersey Shore this summer, you might not realize exactly what some places might be serving up.
As CBS 3 I-Team Reporter Jim Osman tells us, it might give a whole new twist to the term "Dirty Martini".
Summer in the Delaware Valley means two things -- cheering for the Phils and visits to the Jersey Shore.
It's a tradition for many of us to vacation down the shore with family and friends. And there plenty of places to go.
"You can get almost any drink you want at the Jersey Shore," says John Cocklin, Bureau Chief of New Jersey's Alcohol Beverage Control.
But what the CBS 3 I-Team uncovered that might come along with that drink may not be so easy to swallow.
The I-Team goes undercover in Wildwood, New Jersey and we're tracking down bars that New Jersey's Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control, or the ABC, says failed their extensive surprise inspections.
"We go through a series of checklists, we review their books and records, we review bottles to see if they are contaminated," said Cocklin.
The ABC Bureau Chief told us part of the inspection that impacts consumers the most is whether a bar has contaminated liquor on its shelves.
"They're looking for insect matter," said Cocklin, who described what inspectors check for during an inspection. "If you keep an alcohol bottle open with the cap off for a period of time, it's going to attract fruit flies."
The CBS 3 I-Team looked at inspection reports from 2005 through the most recent inspections at shore bars.
Shore bars, because they are seasonal, are inspected infrequently.
Shamrock Cafe at 3700 Pacific Avenue in Wildwood has been cited five times by inspectors during that period including in September 2007 when the place was issued a citation for having contaminated liquor bottles on its shelves.
Juan Pablo's Magarita Bar also on Pacific Avenue in Wildwood in 2008 was cited for three violations when inspectors found contaminated liquor.
Dr. Marcelo Gareca, an infectious disease specialist at Lehigh Valley Hospital, reviewed the inspection reports.
He says largely fruit flies are attracted to liquor because of its sweetness.
"If you have more than one insect inside a bottle, I think it would raise the eyebrow of anybody that there is a level of cleanliness," said Dr. Gareca.
Although the risk is slight, the doctor says the potential for disease is there because fruit flies and other insects can leave behind bacteria and disease producing organisms.
"If you were to cap a bottle after you serve it right away, you shouldn't be able to get fruit flies", said Dr. Gareca.
We noticed Alfe's Restaurant in Wildwood started wrapping the tops of its bottles with plastic after receiving five violations from New Jersey's ABC just last September, including one for contaminated liquor.
In that case and all the others, the state makes sure not one more drink is poured from those bottles.
"If we find contaminated bottles, we destroy the alcohol in the owner's presence," said Cocklin.
The owner of Alfe's tells us the problem won't happen again. Alfe's received a warning letter.
Juan Pablo's Margarita Bar paid a $300 fine and the manager there refused comment.
Shamrock Cafe paid a $100 fine and did not return our repeated phone calls.
None of the places has been re-inspected.
Besides bad liquor, state inspectors can cite bars for invalid licenses, poor bookkeeping and for allowing underage drinking.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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