Well, it's a good thing this news came out after Christmas, when Chinese food is apparently 150 percent more popular than it is at all other times of the year. The FDA has uncovered something absolutely horrific for those of us who love our Peking duck: a Brooklyn-based company that supplies myriad Chinese restaurants on the East Coast and in the Midwest has been cited for some pretty revolting health code violations. Prepare yourself for the worst, because it's that bad.
When inspectors visited New Yung Wah Trading Co., they probably emerged ready to gag. Because here's what they reportedly found: Dead rodents and birds. No, not dead birds ready to be transported and transformed into delicious kung pao chicken ... Allow me to quote directly from the FDA's letter: "Birds flying throughout the warehouse."
And there's more.
A pallet of pineapples was discovered infested by a rodent NEST and rodent urine and feces covered bags of MSG. Yum?!
Now, you'd think the workers would at least be on their best behavior that day -- with inspectors visiting and all -- but nah. The employees handling the very food we eventually put into our bodies were reportedly smoking cigarettes while working. And no one thought to clean up the "puddles of standing water" that resulted from a faulty drain or sprinkle rodent poison in a way that would actually keep it away from the food we eat.
The same company has been in hot water before with the FDA and vowed to address their concerns but apparently has not yet. Because why would you rush to rid your facility of rats when they have made themselves a perfectly comfy love nest in your vat of pineapples?
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As someone who could live off of hot and sour chicken, this disconcerting news is enough to keep me away from Chinese food for a long time -- at least until I hear that this company has shaped up. I'm sure I'm overreacting, but visions of rodents and, OMG, rodent nests mean there will be more Turkish grill in my take-out future.
Does this news affect your desire to eat Chinese food?
Image via J B/Flickr