A refrigeration system that is unable to keep foods cold, dead cockroaches and employees who did not understand basic food-handling rules are among the reasons health officials closed a Thai restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday .
Sala Thai Kitchen, 679 S. 200 West, was cited for more than two dozen code violations during a routine visit from the Salt Lake County Health Department, a report on the website shows.
Eighteen of the violations were considered critical and could negatively affect human health. The restaurant, which opened in 2012 and received two stars (out of a possible four) in a Salt Lake Tribune review, will remain shuttered until the owners fix the problems and health inspectors consider it safe for the public.
Among the most critical violations:
• There is insufficient capacity in the facility to hold potentially hazardous foods at or below 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Dead cockroaches have not been removed from light fixtures.
• Bean sprouts, cooked chicken and tofu held at too high a temperature, which promotes bacterial growth.
• An employee did not wash hands between clean and dirty tasks.
• Noodles stored on raw eggs in the reach-in cooler.
• Raw beef stored in contact with limes.
• Potentially hazardous foods thawing at room temperature.
• Potentially hazardous food cooled in covered containers.
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