Allegheny Countyhealthofficialsordered an Asian market in Whitehall to closeafteritrackedup14foodsafetyandsanitationviolationsduringaninspectionlastweek.
A healthdepartmentinspectorfoundNobleAsianGroceryStorewassellingexpired kimchi, a fermented vegetable dish, with“severeblackmold-likegrowth”onit;maintainednowatersupplies,suchasrestroomsorhand-washingfacilities,duringplumbingwork;andstocked27severelydentedcans,amongotherviolations,according to an inspection report.
While contractors were doing sewer-line excavation and demolition work inside the market’s storage room, the inspector found boxes of food still present, some of them “partially submerged in dirt,” the report said. The store also lacks a dedicated hand sink or mop sink, the inspection found.
“We will address the violations,” Seng Naw, the store’s owner, told TribLive Tuesday.
Naw said he expects the sewage line work at the Saw Mill Run Boulevard market to be finished in about three days. He said he plans to reopen the market.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.