SARASOTA, Fla. — Phil Zager loves Edy's Ice Cream Shop on 1359 Main Street in downtown Sarasota.
And his reaction to Edy's not having a single violation in over three years?
"I'm impressed," Phil told ABC Action News anchor Wendy Ryan.
"But you're not surprised?" Ryan asked.
"Not surprised," Phil said.
"The motto I always heard growing up is 'if you have time to lean, you have time to clean,'" said Melody Small.
Melody and her husband, Andrew own Edy's on Main Street, earning perfect inspection scores since 2015.
"I don't think we've ever had a violation ever in the combined 18 years we've done this! We've always kept it clean," she said.
So how do they do it?
"We're cleaning all the time. If we make a milkshake, we clean the milkshake machine after we're done. We don't wait until the end of the day," Melody explained.
Melody admits it's hard work and the late nights can be challenging seven days a week.
And with all the ice cream flavors, home-made cones, and candy toppings, it's a sugary recipe for inspectors to find violations.
"A lot of people say it's impossible to get a perfect score from inspectors because they're always looking for something. What would you say to that?" Ryan asked.
"They are always looking for something. And that's your challenge to make sure they don't find anything! And that's what we do," she said emphatically.
Melody explains how they take extra precautions daily to make sure conditions are always spotless.
"When we leave this store, it always looks like this. We don't come into a dirty store. Therefore, you don't have the attraction for insects and rodents because it's not sitting there overnight."
So we thought it was deserving of our special award.
"On behalf of ABC Action News, we'd like to present Edy's on Main Street our ABC Action News Blue Ribbon Award for perfect inspections for more than a year. So congratulations," Ryan said, as she presented the award to both Andrew and Melody.
"Thank you!" Melody said.
