Popular Pennsylvania Restaurant Faked Its Food Safety Certificate, Officials Say

Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet, a popular restaurant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is facing legal repercussions after a routine inspection revealed that it had been operating with a falsified food safety certificate.

During a visit on May 9, a restaurant inspector from the state's agriculture department found that Hibachi Grill had displayed a food safety certificate that was dated September 24, 2015, but used a format that the department stopped issuing in 2010. Upon closer inspection, a state official also found that the certificate number used on the document did not correspond with the inspection on file. The certificate number used by the restaurant "does not match with the actual person in the system when these certificates were even used," the inspector reported.

The same visit found Hibachi Grill in violation of at least 16 food hygiene and safety regulations, including that "the supervisor did not demonstrate adequate knowledge of food safety" and the "facility did not have an employee certified in food safety."

The restaurant is required to provide proof of enrollment of one of its employees in a food safety course within the next 30 days, as well as address each of its violations.