Cathay House owner blames customers, rivals for health violation fines

A Transcona restaurateur who received five health violations and thousands of dollars in fines blamed his customers, "aggressive" inspectors, competitors and political "enemies" for the charges.

Manitoba Health served up its latest list of restaurants fined for violating health regulations and one establishment led the pack in the number of convictions.

Cathay House on Regent Avenue was convicted of five offences, almost twice as many as any other establishment. The charges stemmed from inspections on two separate dates in February 2017 and October 2016, with fines totalling $2,400.

The next highest number of fines leveled against any single establishment in this latest report was three.

The charges against Cathay House include two counts of failing to maintain safe internal temperature of potentially hazardous food, failing to protect food from potential contamination, handled food under insanitary conditions, and failing to store wiping cloths in a sanitizing solution.

Cathay House owner Joe Chan said he was "shocked" by the number of fines received. When the health inspector pointed out the violations, he said he took immediate action to correct the problems.

"Whenever they say it, I have to do it. I never really oppose their suggestion," said Chan.

The date of conviction for all the charges is July 21.

Since the fines were announced, Chan said he has seen a 70 per cent drop in business. "That really, really hurt me," he said.

The charge of failing to keep food at a proper internal temperature happened because business was slow, so food wasn't being stirred enough in the buffet trays to stay hot, Chan said. Customers were taking food from the top of the dish rather than the bottom, where it is hotter, Chan said.

"If the customer wants really hot food, they should take from the bottom. I cannot stop that. And also it's not up to me to educate the customer," he said.

Now, Chan said he keeps covers over the dishes during slow periods.

A health inspector saw pre-cooked food cooling in a fridge in a cardboard box labelled for another type of food, which led to the charge of failing to protect food from contamination.

The box hadn't been used before, and now they keep food that needs to be cooled down in a plastic box with material in the sides to absorb steam, Chan said.

The charge of handling food in an insanitary manner had the highest fine of any of the charges, $724. That charge came from the fact that used kitchen knives were kept in a box under the island table, rather than downstairs, Chan said. None of the dirty knives were used in preparing food, Chan said.

In each instance, Chan said he took immediate action to correct the issue. "But I didn't expectall those problems, I correct, he would have to issue the ticket, right? But I guess they're more aggressive on me, and I cannot control it."

If health violations can be corrected immediately through education, health inspectors will often forego issuing fines and simply make a note for future inspections.

"For someone to get a ticket, especially getting four or five tickets, that would have to be a rather severe issue that had been ongoing or hadn't been corrected," said Mike Leblanc, manager of the Health Protection Unit at Manitoba Health.

"We don't walk into a place and automatically have our ticket book out and say here's a ticket for this or that. Usually it's for repeat violations or when the person is not really getting the message. We need to turn the pressure up a bit."

Chan offered varying explanations for why he received such a significant number of fines, from changing regulations, to different health inspectors, as well as bitterness on the part of competitors and other political "enemies."

"My price was so competitive. I cannot stop the competitor making a complaint and setting me up," he said.

"My name is really hot, I cannot stop the people keep setting me up. You know I was the guy taking Mayor Sam Katz to the court. I made enemies with the Conservatives. And I started the Manitoba Party. And of course I make enemies with other parties too. I cannot stop the people harassing me."

Chan said he plans to appeal the fines.