A health inspector came across six dead mice on glue board traps in the kitchen, in addition to a dead cockroach and other public health violations
A poutinerie in Calgary’s Beltline has reopened, nearly a week after Alberta health inspectors shut the facility down following an inspection that revealed dead mice, droppings and an assortment of other Public Health Act violations.
A notice of closure that cited seven health violations was posted by an Alberta Health Services executive officer on Oct. 17 for the Big Cheese Poutinerie on 17th Avenue S.W.
AHS’ notice highlighted the discovery of six dead mice on glue board traps in the kitchen. Another dead mouse was observed on an electrical outlet under a food preparation table in the kitchen, while mouse droppings were found in cupboards in both the front service area and the basement.
In addition, the inspection revealed a dead cockroach in a pest monitoring trap in the kitchen, the notice states.
The AHS inspector noted in the report that the restaurant’s conditions “may become injurious or dangerous to the public health or which might hinder in any manner the prevention or suppression of disease.” It further noted that internal food temperatures of perishable food “being held hot” ranged from 35 to 46 degrees Celsius.
Other citations included a lack of hot water in the kitchen hand-washing sink and a lack of cold water in the two-compartment dish-washing sink.
There was also an accumulation of grease, soil and food debris on equipment under the cookline; under the food preparation table; on the floor under shelving in the walk-in cooler; on the ventilation canopy baffle filers; and on the walls and ceiling.
There was also a gap at the base of the restaurant’s front door, according to the closure notice, as well as expired and water-damaged litmus strips that are used to test the acidity of hand sanitizer.
‘Obviously, a closure is a pretty big deal for us’
Mitchell Raudales, the restaurant’s manager, told Postmedia that his staff spent five days addressing the citations in order to comply with AHS’ requirements for the business to reopen.
Those included patching up holes in the basement that allowed mice into the building, replacing the washers in the faucets that prevented water temperature control, replacing the expired litmus strips and installing wheels on the fryer to make it easier to remove from the kitchen for cleaning, among other improvements.
“Obviously, a closure is a pretty big deal for us,” Raudales said Wednesday. “I was very disappointed by it, so we’re going to do whatever we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Moving forward, Raudales said the business will stick to a consistent cleaning regimen, noting he also removed a shelf that previously made it difficult to clean properly under the prep table.
As for the dead mice, he claimed they were the result of negligence by a pest control company that Big Cheese hired.
“It’s their job to come collect them and replace them, but they put out the traps and forgot to take the old ones out, so there were mice on the old traps,” he said.
“Beyond that, speaking about food, there were really no problems there. It was really just cleanliness, which is fair.”
Big Cheese Poutinerie has another location in Kensington. AHS’ notice only pertained to the 17th Avenue location.