By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Executive Order issued to Pincher Creek’s A-1 Pizza for “grossly unsanitary conditions”

Feb 6, 2018 | 12:49 PM

PINCHER CREEK – *** Story has been up-dated with additional information.

For the second time in one month, Alberta Health Services, South Zone, has issued another Executive Order. This time, it has issued a notice of closure to a popular pizza restaurant in Pincher Creek.

Dated Feb. 1, 2018, the Executive Order lists 2022517 ALBERTA LTD, Waqas Akhtar, Pervaiz Akhtar and Shafqat Hussain as the owners of A-1 Pizza (Pincher Creek and Coaldale), which are separate from other locations in southern Alberta (See more below).

The order states, in part:

“AND WHEREAS such inspection disclosed that the following conditions exist in and about the above noted premises which are or may become injurous or dangerous to the public health or which might hinder in any manner the prevention or suppression of disease, namely:”

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• A facility maintained in a grossly unsanitary condition, including a significant buildup of grease noted on the ceiling above the pizza oven
• A chest freezer found in disrepair and filled with garbage
• Food held in a pizza preparation cooler for an extended period of time at improper temperatures, making the food unfit for human consumption
• No staff on shift with a certified food sanitation training certificate
• A very large amount of garbage and general clutter that accumulated near the back door which can be harbouring pests
• Light covers broken or falling off, the door handle on the walk-in cooler is missing, and storage areas are very dirty and in a state of repair
• Broken and water damaged ceiling tiles in the food handling areas
• Pizza preparation cooler internal temperature between 12.4 degrees Celsius and 14.6 degrees Celsius

The Pincher Creek location has been ordered closed, and the owner ordered to thoroughly clean and sanitize the entire premises, along with fixing the laundry list of violations.

It was noted that a verbal order was also confirmed with Waqas Akhtar, Pervaiz Akhtar.

The restaurant owners have until Feb. 10 to appeal the order if they choose to do so. 

Here is the link to the order, issued by AHS.  https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/wf/eph/wf-eph-sth-a1-pizza-970-main-street-pincher-creek-february-1-2018-a.pdf

Special Notice

LethbridgeNewsNOW has had discussions with the original owners of the various A-1 Pizza locations around the region, who have a message for their valued customers.

The original owners, Muhammad Iqbal and Khalid Abrar, sold the Pincher Creek and Coaldale locations about a year ago to the current owners, Waqas Akhtar, Pervaiz Akhtar and Shafqat Hussain. It is only the Pincher Creek location, that has the Health code violations.

The original owners, Muhammad and Khalid, still have A-1 Pizza locations in Taber, Red Cliff, and Medicine Hat and are planning to expand to Picture Butte, Nanton, High River, and Lethbridge. The Taber and Medicine Hat businesses are being impacted by the violation against Pincher Creek, which is now under different management.

Muhammad and Khalid want to assure their customers that there are no Health code issues at the Taber and Medicine Hat locations.