According to Richmond News, a notice from the Vancouver Coastal Health Department (VCH) said: Mr.Fu's Chinese Restaurant in Richmond, located in the Richmond Public Market, has been closed since April 2 due to sewage pollution, and the reopening hours are unknown.
It is understood that after an on-site investigation, the Vancouver Coastal Health Bureau found that there were many ingredients contaminated by sewage leakage in the restaurant, posing a threat to the health of customers.
If you want to reopen the store, you must deep clean and disinfect the entire restaurant, if some equipment and utensils have been contaminated
Not long after it opened last fall, the Fuzhou restaurant specializes in Chinese Fuzhou cuisine, and although it is not very famous, a Google rating of 4.3 is not low for a restaurant.
On some social media, many people from Greater Vancouver have visited the restaurant and praised its taste. At present, on Google, Fuzhou Ren Restaurant has shown "Temporarily closed" temporarily closed.
Two months ago, the Vancouver Coastal Health Department ordered another Chinese restaurant in Richmond, Spice World, to close down because it did not have a health permit.
Closures due to health concerns are not uncommon in the Richmond Chinese food scene
Richmond's density of Chinese food may be the highest in North America, and no one will question Richmond Chinese food in terms of taste, but when it comes to hygiene, Richmond Chinese restaurants can be said to have been repeatedly tricked, and have even become a "thorn in the side" of the Vancouver Coastal Health Department.
In the first nine months of 2023 alone, 18 restaurants in Richmond were ordered to close by the Coastal Health Authority, mostly for non-compliance with the Public Health Act.
Among the most common questions are:
Rats or other pests contaminate the food in the store;
The glass, dishes and chopsticks in the store are not carefully cleaned;
Improper sewage treatment in the store, etc.
Closure and rectification can be as short as a week, as long as months or even 1 year, and the loss of operation to the restaurant is obvious.
Some of these Chinese restaurants are well-known in Greater Vancouver, especially the "Internet celebrity restaurants" in the minds of young people.
In October 2023, "Miss Fu in Chengdu" on Alexandra Road in Richmond was required by the Coastal Health Bureau to clean thoroughly due to improper dishwashing.
Fujiwara Tofu, located in the same block, was closed for rectification due to insect infestation, and resumed business half a month later.
In August 2023, a Ding restaurant in Shanghai, which is very popular in Richmond, was ordered to close down due to three violations, including insect infestation, food not thawing properly, and unclean rags, but fortunately, the problem was solved after 3 days and it reopened;
In December 2023, Richmond's veteran Hong Kong-style tea restaurant celebrity restaurant was also asked to close due to pest problems, which is already the restaurant's seventh violation in 2 years.
This is not only the case in Richmond and Vancouver, but also in other cities in Canada where Chinese food is concentrated. For example, in a centralized investigation, 11 Chinese restaurants in a shopping mall food court in Richmond Hill in Toronto had violations!
In fact, not only Chinese food, but also some famous restaurant chains have also been "tricked": for example, Burger King in Richmond's Sea Island Way (Burger King) was forced to close for half a year due to food mold problems.
Restaurant workers may cry out, "We've only recovered from the pandemic with a hard time, why are you looking at us with a magnifying glass?" But food hygiene is a top priority, especially in Canada, whether it's from the perspective of the Coastal Health Authority or from the perspective of ordinary customers.
Food poisoning is not uncommon in Metro Vancouver
Is the restaurant really being stared at with a magnifying glass? Can the so-called unqualified really lead to serious consequences? Don't believe it, it's not uncommon for food poisoning or physical discomfort caused by restaurant cleaning problems in Metro Vancouver alone.
One of the most serious cases was undoubtedly the Listeria contamination case that occurred at the Richmond Fengtai supermarket in 2016, when at least six people were hospitalized and one died as a result of poisoning caused by the purchase of its food.
T&T supermarkets have also had problems. In 2020, a "Internet celebrity puff" sold by T&T actually ate people to the emergency room and vomited several times within 2 hours, but fortunately they got a full refund.
If you search for the keyword "diarrhea, vomiting and diarrhea after eating in a certain restaurant" on the forum, you will find many "famous restaurants" on the list, such as Yuanxiang Taiwan Restaurant, Wanluan Pig's Feet and so on. Some netizens said, "When I went to a Chinese restaurant in Canada to eat, I didn't expect to have to ask for more blessings?"
Come and see the whole country. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, an average of 4 million Canadians get sick each year from contaminated food, with an average of more than 10,000 hospitalizations and more than 200 deaths from food poisoning each year, most of which could have been avoided.
Food safety expert Keith Warriner said: "The easiest way is to go to a restaurant with good business, because the food stays for a short time, and the food in a restaurant with bad business is left for a long time, which is easy to cause pests and pathogens to multiply." ”
In addition, you can go to the toilet first when entering the restaurant, because the toilet is generally located near the kitchen, remember to take a look at whether the kitchen is in order, whether it is "dirty and messy", and the kitchen environment can directly determine the quality of the food.
Of course, if you want to completely avoid the problem of food poisoning, it is the safest way to buy your own vegetables, wash your own vegetables, and cook your own vegetables. As for whether Richmond's Chinese food is trustworthy or not, it is up to everyone......
What do you think Canada, as a "developed country", should lead by example everywhere, for example, food health issues should be impeccable?