PopGoesTheNews.com The City of Toronto shut down a snack bar on one of its own properties this month after discovering a string of health code violations.
A Toronto Public Health inspector ordered the Farm Kitchen at Riverdale Farm closed on Nov. 2 and issued it a summons for failing to prevent a rodent infestation. Operated by Friends of Riverdale Farm volunteers and located in the Simpson House, the Kitchen was also cited for inadequate food temperature, failure to ensure food is not contaminated and to ensure food safety, failure to properly wash surfaces and equipment, and failure to provide adequate pest control. It was also busted for a by-law infraction requiring the presence of the holder of a valid food handler's certificate.
All but one of the infractions was rated either "Significant" or "Crucial."
No one knows how long the problems have existed at the Farm Kitchen because the Nov. 2 inspection was the first by Public Health this year. Although it passed a Sept. 29, 2010 inspection, it was given only a Conditional Pass on Aug. 5, 2010 for inadequate food temperature control, failure to properly wash surfaces and failure to provide adequate pest control.
The Farm Kitchen, which mostly sells homemade goods and refreshments, is normally open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm. The 7.5-acre Cabbagetown farm is owned and operated by the City of Toronto. In July, a city consultant's report recommended closing Riverdale Farm as a cost-saving measure.
