The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) has closed Jade Palace 2, a restaurant in Kailua-Kona, after inspectors found several critical food safety violations. The establishment, located at 75-5595 Palani Road and operated by Minh Tuan Tran, was issued a red “closed” placard on February 19. It will remain shut until a follow-up inspection confirms that all issues have been addressed.
According to the DOH, the violations observed during a routine inspection included the presence of live and dead cockroaches throughout the facility, including on food and food-contact surfaces. Inspectors also noted improper storage of food, lack of proper date marking for ready-to-eat foods in the refrigerator, failure to keep premises free from pests such as insects and rodents, inadequate sanitizer concentration from the mechanical dishwasher, hand-washing sinks not equipped with soap and used for other purposes, and poor maintenance and cleaning of physical facilities.
To address these problems, the DOH has ordered Jade Palace 2 to discard all contaminated food products; increase professional pest control services and submit service reports; thoroughly clean and disinfect all surfaces; remove unnecessary equipment to prevent pest harborage; retrain employees on proper food organization and date marking; and repair the mechanical dishwasher.
“The DOH Food Safety Branch protects and promotes 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,” according to the department.
The Hawaii State Department of Health operates as a public health agency focused on providing comprehensive services for health protection, disease prevention, environmental protection, and community wellness across Hawaii (official website). The department also works to safeguard community well-being through health education about vaccination programs and disease outbreaks via its Disease Outbreak Control Division (official website). It is led by a director with support from deputy directors managing key programs (official website), with offices extending across multiple islands (official website). Its Office of Public Health Preparedness coordinates planning for disasters or epidemics (official website).
For more information about placarding procedures or updates on restaurant inspections in Hawaii, visit the Food Safety Branch website or see current inspection results at the FSB Inspections Site.
