Mouse Found in Takeout Food Prompts Investigation of Chinese Restaurant.

Santa Fe, New Mexico (The New Mexican, Inc.) -- A patron's complaint to the state of finding a mouse in a bag of takeout food from Little House of Chinese Cuisine on 1965 Cerrillos Road has initiated an administrative process that likely will leave the restaurant closed until mid-November. Marissa Stone, spokeswoman for the state Environment Department, said an inspection after the complaint found mouse droppings and flies in the kitchen, meat thawing outside of safe temperatures and no sanitizer in the dishwasher or on wiping cloths. The restaurant closed voluntarily after the inspection, Stone said, but reopened a few days later after management fixed the violations. However, because the restaurant has a history of significant violations, food safety officials asked that a state hearing officer suspend its license.

Environment Secretary Ron Curry approved a hearing officer's recommended order that the restaurant be closed until employees are trained on safe food-handling practices and the management buys more refrigeration units to thaw meat. ``Without correction, the current conditions at Little House present a substantial danger of illness for diners,'' the hearing officer, Felicia Orth, wrote.

The restaurant's manager, Johnny Shi, said that it still was open because Environment Department officials had not told him when he must close. But after a reporter told Shi that department officials had said he was supposed to already be closed, he said he would close Little House immediately. Shi said the restaurant had fixed all the problems it could fix on Friday and that the staff is very careful while making food.

The restaurant's owner, Xin Wen Zheng, testified at a hearing that, under ordinary conditions, it was impossible for a mouse to be in a bag of the restaurant's takeout food. He said he believed that a chef he fired that day had placed the mouse in the bag, according to the order. However, under cross-examination, Zheng could not pinpoint the day he fired the chef, the order says. The order also states that Anita Roy, a food-safety specialist for the department, testified that she saw chronic non-compliance and repeated high-risk violations in the restaurant's file.

``Little House's compliance history is about the worst (Roy) has ever seen, and permit suspension is warranted based on the severe risk to public health,'' the order states. Roy has 34 years of experience, according to the order. Stone said that in the past two and a half years, inspectors have investigated the restaurant 13 times, half of them because of complaints from people who felt sick after eating there.