China Chef, located at 1 Depot St., was found in violation of the town's health code on May 30 and was notified of the consequences during Wednesday’s Wareham Board of Health meeting.

The restaurant was originally closed for one day in March, when food was found left out overnight and conditions were deemed unsanitary.

On May 30, the Wareham Fire Department received a call about a gas leak in the building. When they went to investigate, they found raw and cooked food that had been left out overnight on the counters of the restaurant. They then notified the Board of Health.

There was raw chicken, five bowls of white rice, a “large amount” of uncooked spare ribs and some cooked food discovered left out overnight, according to Health Agent Robert Ethier.

“This is a serious violation,” Ethier said. “People could get sick and there are a lot of fatalities due to foodborne illness in the U.S.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Protection estimates that 48 million Americans become sick from foodborne disease each year and 3,000 Americans die each year due to foodborne pathogens.

A co-owner of China Chef, who declined to be identified, addressed the board and said Memorial Day was particularly busy for her restaurant, so no one working at the time was ServSafe certified. ServSafe is a training program that teaches proper food handling procedures and offers certification exams.

The co-owner said she has since gone over how to properly store food overnight with everyone working in the restaurant and is working toward getting more employees ServSafe certified, completing the course in their native language. She said she lost a lot of business after the first violation in March and is eager to rectify the mistakes the restaurant has made.

Ethier said he is concerned that people, particularly children, have been eating food left out overnight at China Chef.

“I have seen a lot of things on this board, but I have never seen this violation twice,” Ethier said.

The board voted to fine China Chef $100 for each of the two food violations. They also told the co-owner that someone with ServSafe certification must be working in the restaurant at all times.

Any future violations may result in revoking the business’ license, “probably permanently,” Ethier said.