Popular restos run afoul of health inspectors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2022 (1056 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It gave Winnipeggers a taste of Sri Lanka, but the province’s health department found The Forks’ eatery so unhealthy it was shut down last week.

A Taste of Sri Lanka, in The Forks’ market, was ordered to close on Dec. 7 due to several violations, including not keeping the outlet clean and in good repair, as well as not making sure food contact surfaces and utensils were cleaned and sanitized, preparing food in unsanitary conditions, and not making sure cloths used to wipe food contact surfaces weren’t used to do something else.

The outlet reopened Tuesday. The owners could not be reached for comment.

It was one of 21 Winnipeg restaurants forced to close this year. Ten establishments outside the city were ordered to close.

Among the others closed this year were Chinatown pillar Kum Koon Garden (including not keeping rodents out), Cordova Tapas and Wine at 93 Albert St. (stored and prepared food under unsanitary conditions), Pizza 204 at 612 Academy Rd. (operating a food handling place without a permit), and the Rennie Hotel in Rennie (handled food under insanitary conditions). It burned down last week in a suspected arson.

The owners of two personal residences were caught selling food without a permit.

Three food establishments were fined after appearing in provincial court, including Living Delight in Brandon, which was fined $798 after being convicted of a charge of not keeping potentially hazardous food at a safe internal temperature and another charge of not ensuring the food was kept frozen.

Clare MacKay, chief communications officer with The Forks North Portage Partnership, said “public health and safety are always important to us at The Forks.

“We continue to work closely with all tenants to ensure health standards are being met. If we find they are not, either internally or through external health inspections, we do have the ability to terminate leases when issues identified are not rectified by the tenant. Factors such as the results of health inspections also go into any conversations on lease renewals.”

A provincial spokesman said the number of closures this year is close to the 27 ordered closed in 2019, the year before the pandemic began.

This year, 7,500 public health inspections have been conducted. That’s down about 5,000 from 2019, because inspectors were focused on public health restrictions before they were lifted.

Inspectors report taking more time at each location because of issues that have popped up while they weren’t able to do routine inspections during the pandemic.

“The percentage of public health inspections that resulted in a food establishment closure remains less than one per cent,” he said.

Rodent and pest infestations are the biggest culprits.

“Rodent activity is common as the weather gets colder and they will find their way indoors if restaurants are not ensuring their doors and foundations are weather-tight.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca