Ace Coffee Roasters, Green Onion Cake Man and Uncle Brian’s Food Company closed by AHS inspectors

Three popular Edmonton establishments have been ordered to close locations after inspections by Alberta Health Services.

Ace Coffee Roasters

Ace Coffee Roasters at 10180 101 St NW was ordered to close on June 12 after inspectors found the coffee shop was operating without a food handling permit.

Additionally, the following violations were noted:

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  Food safety certificate of a person in care and control of the food establishment was not submitted to Alberta Health Services.
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  The single compartment sink for manual dishwashing was inadequate.
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  The size of the dishwashing sink was inadequate.
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  The painted wooden floor at the food premise was unfinished and paint was chipping off in some areas.
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  Pest monitoring and records were not available.
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  Sanitizer test strips were not available.

An AHS spokesperson confirmed to CTV News Edmonton the order against Ace Coffee Roasters was lifted on Friday.

Green Onion Cake Man Ltd.

The man famous for making green onion cakes, one of Edmonton’s best known foods, was ordered to close his mobile unit on June 15.

Inspectors found food handlers were not properly washing their hands between tasks. The following issues were also noted:

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  There is no paper towel dispenser at the hand washing sink.
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  The hand washing sink is made of three very small sinks and are not large enough to properly perform hand washing.
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  Wastewater is leaking on the ground.
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  Cooked pork dumplings and green onion cakes are stored in reusable containers on a preparation table. The temperature of the food items is noted at 8 C.
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  Cooked beef brisket is noted to be at 37 C. Hot holding units are not available to store cooked items.
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  Frozen food is being thawed at room temperature. Frozen pork dumplings are noted to be at 8 C.
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  Non-insulated containers are being used to store high risk food items requiring
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  refrigeration.
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  Disposable gloves are being reused.
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  The mobile unit is not equipped with dishwashing sinks or extra cooking utensils as
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  required.
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  Samples are being offered without protection from customer contamination. The same cutting board used for food preparation is used to offer samples to customers.
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  Wet cleaning cloths are stored on the food preparation counter, and not in a sanitizing solution as required.

The Green Onion Cake Man’s two physical locations are not imacted by the order.

Uncle Brian’s Food Company

The specialty meat shop at 3480 93 St. was closed by AHS on June 18 after an inspector found 18 violations, including:

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  High risk, potentially hazardous foods were observed and verified as stored at more than 4 C and less than 60 C when not in use, namely: raw meat stored on the vacuum sealer at room temperature – measured at 19 C both with internal probe and external temperature readings. High risk foods were left inside of a toaster/air fryer – measured at 18 C external temperature reading.
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  The dry-aged meat was stored improperly that includes but is not limited to:
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  -The dry-aged meat observed in the walk-in cooler was not aged/stored in a humidity-controlled environment as required to produce dry-aged meat.
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  -The dry-aged meat was partially covered in plastic that would prevent the proper air flow.
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  -The dry-aged meat was stored in a raw meat cooler – requirements are that the dry-aged meat is stored in an environment that prevents contamination and was
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  required to be segregated from all other meat products and meat processing activities.
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  Improper packaging or incomplete vacuum sealing of packaged meats was observed: freezer burned meats had packaging full of air and ice crystals.
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  -No ready-made sanitizer was available for used dirty cloth storage. Spray bottles labeled “sanitizer” contained no measurable concentration of a food grade sanitizer.
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  -Used bloody and dirty cleaning cloths were stored on the counter and the smoker unit and were not stored in sanitizing solution before use or between uses.
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  -No labels were applied onto some of the re-prepackaged meat that were on display in the customer area and ready for sale.
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  -The hand sink in the kitchen was dirty, was blocked from easy access, and was missing paper towel for proper handwashing.
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  Food and/or food equipment was stored in an unsanitary manner which includes but is not limited to:
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  – Food related equipment was stored on top of a dirty garbage can.
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  • A knife was observed on the floor.
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  • Food and/or food equipment was observed stored on the floor of the dry storage
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  room.
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  – Griddles were observed stored on the floor, a dirty broom was stored on the griddle
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  surface.
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  – Sausage casings were stored in an open and were unprotected from contamination.
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  Personal items and non-food items were stored on top of and among food and/or food equipment throughout the food processing areas. A vape was stored with the mouthpiece in direct contact with the meat processing table. No separation or organization of food/food equipment from non-food objects.
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  In the walk-in cooler, meat intended for human consumption was stored in garbage bags made with plastic that was not food grade.
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  Staff were conducting cooking activities in raw meat areas and not in the designated staff area.
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  A chemical spray bottle was not labelled to disclose contents and prevent mixing of chemicals.
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  Food equipment was broken and not maintained in good repair:
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  – Some of the meat display trays were broken, overworn, overused, and pieces of
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  plastic were missing from the trays.
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  – Tape was used on broken pieces of the sous vide equipment.
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  Improper clean-in-place procedures were observed. Inconsistent, infrequent, and
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  inadequate sanitization and cleaning of raw meat food equipment was observed:
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  – Food equipment had been left used and dirty, with raw meat and blood product contaminating food touch surfaces – with no cleaning or sanitizing after use was
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  complete.
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  – Other food equipment exhibited build-up of food and debris were observed that include and but were not limited to – the metal racks for dish/equipment, the air
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  fryer, storage equipment, the spice spills in the dry storage room, the cords and exteriors of equipment, the scale.
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  A large puddle of water and blood was observed in the walk-in cooler.
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  The back door was left open, no screen was in place. Live flies were observed within the facility.
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  The faucet of the compartment dishwashing sinks was leaking water.
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  Written cleaning schedules for staff to sign were observed on the walls, many were not filled out and/or signed recently.

The establishments have been ordered to close until the deficiencies can be corrected.