First McDonald’s to open in Costa Rica closed by Health Ministry

The first McDonald’s in Costa Rica was shut down Monday by the Health Ministry and the San José Municipality due to multiple violations.

The McDonald’s, located in front of the Banco Central in downtown San José, opened in 1970. The closure took place after the restaurant failed to comply with the law 7.600 (that seeks equality for people with disabilities). But more problems were then found in the time-worn building.

“The complaint was made ​​by a citizen who noticed the absence of access for people with physical disabilities” said Carolina Guillén, regional director of the Health Ministry in San José “After that, we discovered that the operating license in the restaurant had expired a month ago, as well the the lack of a food handling course for 30 employees.”

In addition, the McDonald’s was cited for problems with the system for managing wastewater.

According to a statement made on the Facebook page of McDonald’s Costa Rica, the violations were due to problems with the administrative process in regards to health permit procedures.  The statement said, McDonald’s are training all staff in food handling courses to complete the Health Ministry’s requirements as soon as possible. The restaurant hopes to reopen as soon as possible.

The billion dollar franchise chose the site in downtown San José as McDonald’s first location outside of the United States and Canada. Currently, McDonald’s operates in 119 countries, according to the company’s website.