Tina Knowles’ pop-up eatery, Mama Tina’s Gumbo, was recently shuttered after a customer became ill.
KPRC 2 reports that Mama Tina’s was shut down at the Houston Rodeo last week after a customer claimed she was “throwing up blood,” and experienced chills, nausea, and fever after eating gumbo. When health inspectors followed up on the complaint, they found that the pop-up operators had mishandled the seafood.
On March 16, Mama Tina’s closed after the Houston Health Department discovered that the gumbo had been cooked off-site, cooled, transferred to non-food-grade buckets, and then taken to a freezer at an unlicensed location. Afterwards, the food was reportedly taken to a refrigerated trailer and thawed before it was served to patrons.
The health department’s report also stated that the eatery didn’t keep temperature logs for when they cooled or stored the gumbo, and that the food prepared more than 24 hours before the event was undated.
Inspectors explained more about rapid cooling and thawing methods, and gave them date-marking instructions. The pop-up operators also said they would stop making food off-site and store it in a freezer trailer rather than a refrigerated one.
Mama Tina’s Gumbo was only closed for a day before it was cleared to reopen on March 17.
