Area Asian restaurants not involved in spoiled deliveries suffering customer loss

YOUNGSTOWN

Multiple news accounts of food trucks delivering spoiled goods to Asian restaurants are keeping customers away — even from Valley eateries not involved, some workers say.

There were 21 Asian restaurants in Mahoning County that were on a list provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on Aug. 27.

Some of those restaurants either accepted or rejected the food delivered to them.

Some Asian restaurants that were not on the delivery list, however, consider themselves collateral damage.

“It’s just killing us,” said Dennis Sinkovich, a delivery driver for China Star, 3415 Canfield Road.

“It’s a shame that we got lumped in with everyone else,” Sinkovich said, speaking on behalf of the owner, Chen “Ivy” Jiang.

On a normal Friday night, the restaurant usually receives 50 to 70 orders. That number has gone down recently.

Sinkovich said the restaurant business helps Ivy support her family, including her three kids.

“I feel really bad for this family, they’re one of the ones doing the right thing,” Sinkovich said. said. “It’s heart-breaking to see them go down this path.”

The delivery truck was owned by NYWP Enterprise LLC from McKees Rocks, Pa.

A state sanitarian inspected the truck’s pork, fish, chicken, noodles and canned goods and found the pork at 64 degrees and fish at 54 degrees.

The state requires that food that needs refrigeration be kept at or below 45 degrees.

The delivery truck was headed back to its headquarters in Pennsylvania with rejected products and had turned off its refrigeration to save on fuel, according to a statement from NYWP Enterprise. The company rejected the notion that it would deliver spoiled products to clients.

Sanitarians from Mahoning County and the city of Youngstown were sent out Aug. 28 to inspect the 21 restaurants that were on the delivery list.

Read more about the backlash in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.