GEORGE TOWN, The Penang City Council (MBPP) ordered three food establishments to close their business operations with immediate effect following the discovery of rat excrement in the kitchen during an inspection conducted around George Town yesterday. MBPP said the three dirty eateries were ordered to close for 14 days starting yesterday in the operation carried out by the local authority. 'The MBPP Licensing Department has conducted a cleanliness operation on food premises in the city and the inspection covers the storage space for raw food materials, appliances (utensils), kitchens, refrigerators, grease traps and so on. 'The three food premises that were inspected were ordered to close due to the discovery of rat excrement in the kitchen and MBPP also issued three compounds due to various offences including grease traps not being properly maintained, and placing raw food less than 20 centimetres (or 8 inches) from the floor,' it said in his Facebook post today. According to MBPP, it always emphasises o n cleanliness in all food premises because, in addition to maintaining the image of a tourist city known as a food paradise, all eateries must be in a high level of cleanliness to give confidence to customers to enjoy the menu. Source: BERNAMA News Agency