A string of violations discovered during a recent inspection has led to an Indian food restaurant in Kelowna being ordered to closed.
An inspection report released by Interior Health (IH) on Wednesday, June 3 stated that Ustaad G76 Indian Cuisine, located on Rutland Road, has been ordered to close.
The inspection named a series of concerns including temperature control, pest prevention, hygiene, and contamination issues.
In total, the report lists three ‘critical’ questions not in compliance and seven ‘non-critical’ questions. Of the 10 offences, five of them were repeat infractions.
The food inspector stated there was a lack of handwashing and gave the example of staff washing dishes or touching garbage, prior to handling food.
In addition, uncovered food was found stored on the floor near an exit door while cooked potatoes were temporarily moved outside and stored on the ground near a garbage bin.
In the walk-in cooler, uncovered raw meat was found either stored on the floor and on top of cooked foods/ready-to-go food.
Some foods were also not stored at a proper temperature, with potatoes and chickpeas measured at an internal temperature of 18 C. In the report, it states “potentially hazardous foods must be stored or displayed at a temperature of 4 C.” Staff was instructed to store these foods in the cooler until ready for preparation.
All three of these violations were “critical” and repeat infractions.
The food inspector also witnessed dirty cutting boards, grease and food debris build-up in multiple places, including under the cook line, on the second-level washrooms, dry food storage areas, the walk-in cooler, the dishwasher, the freezer, prep line, and more. Furthermore, one freezer/cooler didn’t even work anymore.
”Two-compartment sink and dishwasher area observed filthy and loaded with unclean dishes from the last day,” reads the report. “Garbage bin in front of the house observed full and appeared not to have been emptied for several days.”
The chlorine sanitizer for the dishwasher was also measured at zero ppm (chlorine concentration). In restaurants, a minimum concentration of 50 ppm is required for proper sanitization of utensils. The operator was instructed to fix this immediately.
The variety of sanitary issues were repeat violations.
One observation made by the food inspector was food being stored on the restaurant’s stairs and that the back exit door to the kitchen was left open. According to the inspector, both areas must be maintained to prevent pests (animals) from entering the building.
One other repeat infraction that was discovered was there were no paper towels at any handwashing station, in the kitchen, or in the front of house while a dedicated hand-washing sink was found to have dirty glasses in it.
“A sanitation plan is required and must include the expected frequency for cleaning and maintaining all equipment on the premises, including the grease interceptor,” the report stated. “No Sanitation log observed maintained to record sanitizer concentration of low temperature dishwasher and food contact surface sanitizer.”
Foodsafe training requirements were also found to not be met.
The restaurant was instructed to deep clean the entire building and has been issued to close.
IH’s inspection can be found it the inspection reports portal.
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