D.A. Sues Circle K for Improper Food Handling, Storage : Repeated Violations Alleged at 25 Orange County Stores

Circle K Convenience Stores, which has received hundreds of health code citations involving its Orange County operations, was sued Tuesday by the county district attorney’s office for persistently violating food preparation and storage rules at 25 of its stores.

The suit, which seeks a $400,000 fine, alleges that some Circle K store operators repeatedly ignored citations from the county Health Care Agency and failed to clean up rat and mouse droppings, repair clogged plumbing or correct other Health and Safety Code violations.

In several instances, according to documents filed by the district attorney’ office, Circle K stores were cited for storing hot food well below the minimum of 140 degrees required to keep harmful bacteria from growing and for storing cold food at temperatures above the 45-degree maximum established in the state Health and Safety Code.

Problems Not Corrected

In addition to the suit, filed in Superior Court in Santa Ana, the district attorney is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring Circle K to adhere to the health codes.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy Brough said her office took action against Circle K after the Health Care Agency said store operators and company officials repeatedly ignored citations and failed to correct problems.

Court documents say that 46 Circle K stores in the county received a total of 638 citations from Health Care Agency inspectors in 1987 alone, and several stores have been closed. The most frequent violations dealt with failure to maintain the premises, food preparation areas and food handling and preparation equipment in a clean and safe manner.

In many cases, operators of Circle K stores were given citations and told the exact date that health agency officials would be back to reinspect their stores, but still failed to correct the problems. “This occurred two or three times at some stores,” said Brough, who prepared the case for the consumer protection unit.

Of 25 Circle K stores cited in the court papers, all “have been or are filthy,” and “at almost all . . . handwashing facilities for employees (to use) after toilet use are inadequate because of the lack of soap and towels and in some cases the lack of functioning sinks and absence of hot water.”

Officials at Circle K’s regional office in Irvine could not be reached for comment late Tuesday. An official at the company’s corporate headquarters in Phoenix said there would be no official comment until the company’s attorneys had received and reviewed the suit.

Expansion Emphasized

According to Standard & Poor’s, a research service, Circle K has 3,500 stores in 25 states, and food sales account for about half of its more than $2 billion in annual revenue. The company reported net income of $449.4 million for its fiscal 1987.

Brough said she believes that Circle K, which has nearly doubled its presence in the county in the past two years to 72 stores, has been emphasizing expansion at the expense of store maintenance, employee training and consumer protection. “I’ve seen this same pattern in many consumer protection cases,” she said.

The stores cited in the court documents are in communities throughout the county, ranging from poorer areas of Santa Ana to upscale neighborhoods in Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Tustin.

A hearing on the request for an interim preliminary injunction has been scheduled for Aug. 30 in Superior Court.