Restaurant faces closure for glass shard in tofu

MANILA, Philippines - Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad has ordered the management of a noodle house to explain why it should not be closed after it allegedly served a plateful of tofu mixed with a glass shard to one of its costumers.

Trinidad, who ordered City Administrator Ernestina Carbajal to send the notice, gave the management of North Park Noodle House on Diosdado Macapagal Avenue three days to satisfactorily explain why he should not act on a recommendation of Pasay police chief Senior Superintendent Raul Petrasanta to “temporarily close” the restaurant.

Police records showed that on Aug. 15, Allen Sy, 40, a resident of Las Piñas City, sustained injuries on his tongue when he bit into a shard of glass mixed into the tofu dish.

Sy and eight members of his family, including his children, ordered seven kinds of dishes worth P2,543 at the noodle house.

A physician at the San Juan de Dios Hospital who examined Sy said the victim suffered cuts on his tongue and gums.

The Bureau of Food and Drugs said the tofu submitted to them for examination last Aug. 25 had indeed contained a chip of broken glass.

 “Although our police chief had recommended temporary closure of the restaurant based on the complaint of the victim and the result of an inspection conducted by the Office of Environmental Sanitation Services, City Health Office and other concerned local officials, we want to give the management a chance to explain their side,” Trinidad said.

He said findings of the inspection team showed that the air-conditioner in the restaurant’s dining area needs regular cleaning and maintenance.

The team also reported that the flooring of the establishment was wet and slippery with broken kitchen floor tiles and that the floor drain was without a screen intended to prevent flooding of the area. Likewise, the water outlet or grease trap needs periodic checking.

According to the team, there was also an “unwanted presence of flies in the dining area, causing annoyance and posing a threat to food safety.”

Petrasanta said the management of North Park Noodle House violated the sanitation code and the consumers’ protection law as well as a provision of the revised penal code on negligence resulting in physical injuries.

The police also recommended the filing of appropriate charges against the owner and employees of the noodle house before the Pasay City prosecutor’s office.

Restaurant manager Larry Domingo said they are leaving the matter up to their lawyer.