A Vaughan grocery store was temporarily closed and a Markham restaurant was charged last week for public health violations.
Esma Fine Foods at 55-9100 Jane St. in Concord received a closure notice after March 18 after a York Region Public Health inspection found issues with it failing to prevent pests and keep housekeeping satisfactory.
According to the inspection report, Esma Fine Foods failed to provide adequate protection against the harbouring of pests. The restaurant was also found not to comply with addressing garbage in the facility and failed to ensure walls were in good repair.
With that, public health found the premises were being operated in a matter permitting a health hazard, and an order was issued to close the restaurant for now, with rodent/pest infestation cited. A re-inspection is due at a later date.
Markham restaurant Feta & Olives Mediterranean Grill at 5000 Highway 7 was charged March 19 for issues relating to maintaining a handwashing station and equipment.
Feta and Olives Mediterranean Grill faced issues that included noncompliance regarding a proper handwashing station. The inspection also found issues with equipment and non-food-contact surfaces being maintained, and the restaurant failed to have at least one certified food handler or supervisor on-site during all hours of operation.
In response, food handler education was done on-site, with an acceptable temporary measure put in place. Inspectors did serve a ticket, with a re-inspection to be conducted at a later date. An issue with sanitizing utensils in a high enough chlorine solution was also corrected during the inspection.
York Region Public Health states that the inspection report represents the condition of the restaurants at the date and time of the inspection only and does not guarantee or warrant the condition of the food premises at any other time.
For more information on the above charges, contact York Region Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653, TTY 1-866-512-6228, or email accessyork@york.ca
Editor's Note: This article was amended to correctly identify Esma Fine Food as a grocery store.