Unlicensed Yolo restaurant fined over $100K after allegedly poisoning UC Davis students

An unlicensed restaurant that served college students through a Chinese app has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 after its food reportedly caused several people to fall ill.

The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office settled with Xin Jiang, owner of Anna’s Kitchen, for $106,997 in total costs and penalties on Dec. 18, according to a news release distributed Monday afternoon. Jiang will owe an additional $90,000 if he’s found operating a retail food operation without a valid county permit again.

Anna’s Kitchen targeted University of California, Davis students from China through the immensely popular Chinese app WeChat. It became the subject of a Yolo County Environmental Health Division investigation after multiple complaints from students who became sick after eating food from Anna’s Kitchen, according to the release.

The investigation found Jiang delivered hundreds of meals that weren’t kept at county-mandated hot or cold temperatures, putting customers at risk for food-borne illnesses.

“Consumers who purchase food have the right to expect that their meals are being prepared, handled, and delivered safely and correctly by businesses,” District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in the release. “We remain dedicated to prosecuting individuals and businesses who knowingly jeopardize public health and safety for their own personal profit.”

Any Anna’s Kitchen customers with an outstanding “VIP Card” balance are eligible for a cash refund or restaurant credit at Hunan Bar & Restaurant in downtown Davis.

California began allowing counties to legalize commercial sales of home-cooked meals last year, but only Riverside County has opted in so far. If Yolo County were to allow microenterprise home kitchens, each would be subject to one inspection per year and would only be permitted to produce 60 meals per week.

In a June interview with The Sacramento Bee, Yolo County director of environmental health April Meneghetti mentioned an illicit home kitchen that was allegedly producing hundreds of meals daily and had people sick.

This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 4:20 PM.