A Chinese restaurant in Kansas has come under fire after a worker was filmed cutting meat on the sidewalk.
Health inspectors arrived at Tryyaki in Lawrence after a video showing the gruesome act appeared online.
Footage showed an employee cutting pieces of pork while squatting on the concrete pavement of the restaurant’s drive-thru.
“It was heartbreaking. “I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing,” said Jennifer Watkins, who filmed the incident while with her husband Greg. fox4kc. ‘There was no cutting board or anything to cut. I was just cutting cement.
The owner of the establishment took to social media to assure customers that the meat was for the worker’s personal use and is not even served on the menu.
“People shouldn’t worry about us serving them pork cut from the ground,” said owner Sunny Liu.
‘The pork carcass shown in the video was not intended for our customers. “It is inexpensive meat that some of our employees prepare and cook separately for their personal consumption,” the restaurant wrote in a statement.
“This meat is cooked at the end of the night, in a separate cooking vessel, completely separate from the kitchen equipment and utensils used for the customers’ meal.
A Chinese restaurant in Kansas has come under fire after a worker was filmed cutting meat on the sidewalk.
Tryyaki’s owners said the person was cutting pork for personal use.
However, the inspectors still felt the need to visit Lawrence’s establishment and give some advice.
“While this practice is safe when cooked properly, we would never serve it to our customers.”
However, Greg Watkins was not convinced by the explanation.
‘It’s not clean, it’s not good to be chopping meat whether it’s for personal consumption or they’re going to do it to the public, they’re still preparing it in that kitchen,’ he said.
The state Department of Agriculture was also alarmed and decided to initiate an emergency inspection.
A report from the Dec. 1 visit found there was no time stamp on a plate of sushi rice stored outdoors, but no other violations.
However, previous visits have uncovered violations such as raw chicken stored on top of fresh vegetables and employees using their bare hands to prepare crab Rangoon.
Inspectors gave the restaurant some tips that the owners said they put into practice by sanitizing all of their knives, as well as the area where the meat was cut.
The owner said he had spoken to the employee in the video to make sure he wouldn’t do it again.
Owner Sandy Liu said the employee was cutting up pork that isn’t even served on the menu.
The scene horrified passerby Jennifer Watkins, who recorded the video that prompted the health inspection.
“A health inspector visited our restaurant the same day this video was posted,” the restaurant added.
‘After conducting a thorough inspection, they confirmed that our restaurant meets all health and safety standards.
“This reflects our continued commitment to the highest levels of cleanliness, quality and transparency.”