Crime | Three eateries shutdown after supplier bust

The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has ordered three eateries located in Taipa be shutdown after their supplier, a food processing company, was found to be breaching several hygiene and sanitation rules, the IAM informed.
The case comes after the Times reported last week that the Public Security Police Force (PSP) had announced the closing of a food processing company that was illegally operating from a residential unit also located in Taipa.
Further investigations led the municipal authorities to understand that the company, which supplied processed fish products, had the three eateries as its main clients. These included a dumpling restaurant and two other shops that were serving takeaway food on food delivery app “Aomi.” The eateries were ordered to close.
According to the initial report, apart from the illegal operation of the company from a residential unit, the police found a high number of sanitation problems in the apartment, including the presence of cockroaches and live fish being processed in the apartment’s toilet.
In the statement, the IAM also informed that it ordered Aomi to remove the eateries, which are now unavailable, from their app.
Legal provisions on food safety state that the breaching of sanitation rules is punishable with a fine ranging from 50,000 to 600,000 patacas and that, in cases with severe consequences, it can be considered a crime punishable up to five years imprisonment.
The PSP had initially discovered the food processing company in the course of investigating a report of an illegal non-resident worker.