David Y. Ige

HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health discovered a severe roach infestation at Joey’s Kitchen in the Whaler’s Village food court in Lahaina, Maui, last Friday, Sept. 17. They immediately issued a red placard to close down the food establishment to protect public health.

During the routine inspection of the restaurant, located at 2435 Kaanapali Parkway, H16, health inspectors observed roaches throughout the kitchen and back storage area. In one glue trap, 19 juvenile roaches were observed, with nine live juvenile roaches. There were live and dead adult and juvenile roaches in other areas of the kitchen, including in a cook pot, under and on the cooking oil container, in the storage area on shelves and food containers, and inside a paper towel dispenser. Roach egg cases were also observed. All of these were indications of an active roach population.

This was the second eatery in Whaler’s Village food court that received a red placard in less than a month. A routine health inspection of Nikki’s Pizza on Aug. 31, 2021 by the health department found an active roach infestation and other critical violations, including the signs of the presence of rodents in the kitchen.

According to a health department’s report on a follow-up inspection on Sept. 21, Whaler’s Village contracted a pest control company to conduct a pest bomb treatment of the entire food court. The Department of Health issued a green placard and allowed Joey’s Kitchen to reopen with certain stipulations: pest control treatment and monitoring must be conducted on a minimum weekly basis to ensure the pest population remains under control and, depending on the results after a month, possibly move to bi-weekly pest control measures.

In addition, Joey’s Kitchen was required to continue to clean areas underneath all kitchen equipment to remove any remaining food debris and grease accumulation.

Health inspection reports for food establishments in Hawai‘i are available for review at https://hi.healthinspections.us/hawaii/#facility. To review recent inspection records, enter the name of the establishment in the search field. For past inspections, enter the date range in the advance search options.

The Department of Health’s Food Safety Branch protects the health of Hawai’i residents and visitors through education of food industry workers and regulation of food establishments statewide. The branch conducts routine health inspections of food establishments where food products are prepared, manufactured, distributed or sold. The branch also investigates the sources of food borne illnesses and potential adulteration to control and prevent the spread of illness. Health inspectors work closely with business owners, food service workers, and the food industry to ensure safe food preparation practices and sanitary conditions.

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