Toronto Public Health closed Cora Pizza, the popular pizza spot at Spadina and Harbord, on Monday, Dec. 21. A rodent infestation and gross unsanitary conditions were the main conditions for closure.
According to Jim Chan, manager of food safety programs at Toronto Public Health, inspectors discovered rodents, careless food storage, dirty work stations, and a sewer of dirty grease at the pizzeria.
TPH’s inspection report cites additional “Crucial Severity” infractions, including failure to ensure food was not contaminated/adulterated and failure by employees to wash hands when required. Failure to properly maintain equipment, store and remove waste, and wash multi-use utensils were among the long list of “Significant Severity” infractions.
Cora Pizza passed all health inspections until March 2009, when TPH granted the shop two conditional passes. On Monday a health inspector found a bucket used for pizza sauce that showed “signs of contamination with dirt and mold” as well as “dead rats and rat droppings in the kitchen.”
Cora Pizza operators are to appear in court, facing three offences under the provincial Health Protection and Promotion Act. They could not be reached for comment.
Toronto health inspectors closed 27 restaurants (out of the city’s 10,000 plus) and laid 463 charges for health and food-safety infractions in 2009, a decrease from last year.
Cora Pizza will remain closed until all infractions are corrected and a public health inspector authorizes the store to re-open.
