Cockroach infestation causes Lethbridge restaurant to be shut down

The doors are locked at New Dynasty Restaurant in Lethbridge and posted signs read: “Closed for cleaning.” But according to Alberta Health Services, the reason for the closure goes beyond cleaning.

“We had a complaint earlier this week and upon receiving that complaint went to inspect and found a significant cockroach infestation,” said Dr. Vivien Suttorp, South Zone lead medical officer of health.

“That was enough, in addition to some other compliance challenges, to proceed with a closure order.”

AHS said it is not common to find the pest, which were determined to be German cockroaches, in southern Alberta. They multiply quickly and are nocturnal, typically only coming out at night so they can be hard to spot during a daytime inspection.

“Their feces can create allergies,” Suttorp said. “The other thing is they can transmit bacterial infections to food and through food, such as salmonella.”

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The closure order states that along with the infestation, other food handling issues were flagged, like meat thawing in the sink at the wrong temperature and unsuitable food containers being used.

A certified pest control company must deal with the cockroaches and staff will need to take a food handling course before New Dynasty can reopen for business, AHS said.

According to the AHS website, this is the second time in less than a month that critical violations have been flagged by a health inspector.

Global News reached out to the restaurant several times Thursday but did not receive a response.