Fifty restaurants in Metro Vancouver closed their doors after they were found with rodent infestations, unsanitary conditions or a failure to store food properly in recent months, according to a new report.
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's (VCH)
The list includes downtown restaurant Capone's and Kamei Royale Japanese restaurant on West Georgia Street, along with various pizza, sushi and noodle eateries.
With the exception of several restaurants that do not have running hot water, most were given notice to close down after they failed to maintain sanitary conditions or operated without a permit.
Some were infested with rodents or pests, such as cockroaches, and others failed to store food properly at adequate temperatures.
Richard Taki, manager of the Environmental Health division with VCH, attributes an increase in pest and rodent infestations in Vancouver and Richmond to an increase in construction.
New developments force rodents to relocate in search of food, he said, and restaurants are a prime target.
Two restaurants, Capone's and Richmond restaurant Success Seafood, were each closed on two occasions, just months apart. Capone's was closed in January and again in April, and Success Seafood was closed in March and April.
But the vast majority of the eateries on the list reopened their doors within several days of the closures, and do not appear on the list again.
The health authority inspects the region's 6,000 food service establishments and 3,000 food stores and processors routinely, and upon complaint.
Criteria for restaurant closures includes:
- rodent or cockroach infestation
- failure to maintain the premises, equipment or dishes
- failure to maintain sanitary conditions, including contact surfaces
- unsanitary food handling
- failure to store food properly or at safe temperatures
- inadequate supply of running hot and cold water
- failure to maintain valid permit
- poor food handling
Food inspection reports are published on an ongoing basis.
