Justbecuz
October 30th, 2008, 08:39 AM
By Maki Becker NEWS STAFF REPORTER
The owners of a Chinese restaurant in Hamburg shut down last week after a witness reported seeing a worker butchering a deer on the premises were fined $1,000 Wednesday by the county Health Department and ordered to take corrective measures.
Dr. Anthony J. Billittier IV, health commissioner, said the owners of China King, 5999 South Park Ave., agreed to the arrangements prior to a hearing held Tuesday.
“It was a quick hearing,” Billittier said. “The hearing officer rendered his opinion . . . and all parties agreed to it.”
In addition to paying the fine, the owners will have to sanitize the kitchen and refamiliarize themselves with sanitation codes. Also, the owners will have to fix their refrigeration unit, which was found not to be working properly. And a worker at the restaurant will have to take a food safety course in the next six months.
An inspector will check out the restaurant and quiz workers on their knowledge of the codes. If they pass those tests, the restaurant will be allowed to reopen.
Friday, a tipster called the Health Department. A health inspector was dispatched to the China King saw the deer and shut the restaurant down.
It is illegal in New York State to have a dead animal in a food service place. It is also illegal to serve meat that hasn’t been butchered in a licensed facility.
China King has been closed since Friday.
The owners of a Chinese restaurant in Hamburg shut down last week after a witness reported seeing a worker butchering a deer on the premises were fined $1,000 Wednesday by the county Health Department and ordered to take corrective measures.
Dr. Anthony J. Billittier IV, health commissioner, said the owners of China King, 5999 South Park Ave., agreed to the arrangements prior to a hearing held Tuesday.
“It was a quick hearing,” Billittier said. “The hearing officer rendered his opinion . . . and all parties agreed to it.”
In addition to paying the fine, the owners will have to sanitize the kitchen and refamiliarize themselves with sanitation codes. Also, the owners will have to fix their refrigeration unit, which was found not to be working properly. And a worker at the restaurant will have to take a food safety course in the next six months.
An inspector will check out the restaurant and quiz workers on their knowledge of the codes. If they pass those tests, the restaurant will be allowed to reopen.
Friday, a tipster called the Health Department. A health inspector was dispatched to the China King saw the deer and shut the restaurant down.
It is illegal in New York State to have a dead animal in a food service place. It is also illegal to serve meat that hasn’t been butchered in a licensed facility.
China King has been closed since Friday.