Asian restaurants often run afoul of Sacramento County health inspectors

With a new Asian restaurant opening in Sacramento County every two weeks, health inspectors face a growing challenge because Asian eateries are most prone to health violations.

Like upscale French restaurants dinged for making hollandaise with uncooked eggs, some of the local Asian restaurants' issues stem from cultural food practices. In Chinese restaurants, for instance, roast duck meat may hang from a hook to dry for more than four hours, creating a tasty entree that inspectors consider a virtual petri dish for bacteria.

But most of the inspectors' unsavory findings are more basic: unwashed hands, vermin and food cooked or stored at the wrong temperature.

Forty-four of the 50 Sacramento restaurants castigated most often since 2003 for major violations – the infractions that pose an immediate health threat – serve Asian food, according to a Bee analysis of county inspection data newly posted at www.sacbee.com/databases.

Nearly half of the 400 or so restaurants temporarily closed down for safety problems during those years also served Asian food, though fewer than one in six local restaurants is Asian.

Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants were the most likely to be cited, Thai and Japanese the least. In south Sacramento, especially along the busy Stockton Boulevard corridor, the numbers are particularly bleak.

Some restaurateurs argue that the county discriminates against their cuisines.

"Their main issue is they don't understand traditional Chinese food," said Alan Chan, co-owner of the popular New Canton Restaurant on Broadway and New Lai Wah on Freeport Boulevard. Chan, whose restaurants have repeatedly been cited, says the county requires food to be stored at temperatures too extreme – both hot and cold – for Chinese standards.

Sacramento's inspectors are not the first to encounter such claims of culinary culture clash. Los Angeles County created a task force to help Chinese restaurants meet health regulations. In the San Gabriel Valley, with one of the nation's largest concentrations of Chinese Americans, inspectors consistently score Asian restaurants lower than other restaurants, a Bee review found.

"They say, 'You don't know much about Chinese food so you write me up," said Hector Dela Cruz, with the Los Angeles County Environmental Health Department. "My response is, "The pathogens we are concerned about don't really know they are on Chinese food.' "

Language a complication

The repeat citations in Sacramento County illustrate difficulties many Asian entrepreneurs face adapting to the plethora of food safety regulations, several experts said. They also suggest that the county's efforts to reach out to Asian restaurant owners have met with limited success.

Asian restaurant owners "have a lot of problems because of the language barrier," said Jerry Chong, legal counsel for the Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy and Leadership (CAPITAL).

Beyond language issues, local Asian restaurants often struggle with thin profit margins, small staffs, cheap equipment and a lack of adequate training, said Chong and others.

Kevin Zhang, owner of the First Choice Chinese restaurant in midtown Sacramento, said customers may be getting what they pay for.

"Asian food is priced too low," he said, noting that someone can get an elaborate Asian lunch for under $5 at dozens of local restaurants. Those prices often result in unskilled workers or inadequate staffing, which may lead to poor quality control.

For 15 years, Zhang has worked seven days a week – he says he's never taken a vacation. During that time, he's proven that it's possible to run a budget Asian restaurant and largely stay out of trouble with health inspectors. First Choice has been cited for major violations about once a year – similar to the average for local restaurants.

"I clean up every day. My wife comes to help every day," Zhang said, adding that each prep cook is responsible for keeping his work space clear. "And every Sunday morning when it's not busy, I will come and clean myself."

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