Dirty situations and
health-code violations

» New Westminster restaurant closures in 2015

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reoorter

person who eats out regularly never

wants to hear that a restaurant
they’ve been to has been temporarily
or permanently closed due to health
violations. The thought of a dirty kitchen,
unwashed hands, or the prevalence of
rodents brings a feeling of nausea to most
people.

In the past year, a handful of
restaurants in New West fell below the
line of satisfactory and into the dark

Millard, a health protection manager,
explained the inspection process and
what can potentially lead to a closure to
the New Westminster Record. He noted
that, although restaurants are checked
twice a year, some businesses may be

mandatory two should complaints arise
from unsatisfied customers.

“The goal is to help a restaurant
owner offer safe food to the public,”
Millard stated to the Record.

There is a long list of standards that
the Fraser Health Authority stands by,
most of which include “respect to general
food handling, storage temperatures,
sanitation, employee hygiene, and
equipment or food contact surface
disinfection procedures for the specific
type of processes and foods involved,”
according to the Fraser Health Authority’s
official website.

In all situations, public health

: inspectors are trusted to ensure no

: possible form of contamination takes place
: in the food industry. Understandably,

: the general physical condition of the

: workplace must be assessed to ensure

: that employees and customers can have a

: good experience. It’s not only individual

: restaurants that get reviewed—it includes
: “any food production or manufacturing

: facilities” such as “food stores, bakeries,

: butcher shops, catering facilities, mobile

: vending carts, and temporary food events

: at fairs or festivals.”

realms of violating health codes. Timothy:

In 2015, 15 health violations were

: caught in New Westminster, ranging

: from previously served food not being

: discarded to failure to exclude employees
: from food handling when the employee is
: suffering from a communicable disease.

: Fraser Health closed 12 restaurants.
obligated to accommodate upwards of the:

While many assume that health

: violations mean closures, they are

> misinformed. When there is a violation

: of health in the food industry, the

: inspector charges the restaurant with

: their infraction, possibly temporarily

: shuts down the business, and then returns
: 30 days after the charge to see if the issue
: has been resolved. In most cases, owners
: comply and the restaurant resumes

: conducting business as usual. The only

: case upon which there would be an

: immediate closure of a restaurant would
: bea hot water tank failure or a major

: rodent infestation.

Image via thinkstock

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