Salt isn’t the only substance found in abundance in soy sauce. Sometimes a mystery ingredient gets the police crashing through the restaurant doors.
Nikko Japanese Steak House in Pace has announced plans of shutting the place down after a police investigation revealed methamphetamine in the soy sauce.
The investigation kicked off after seven people were hospitalized shortly after dining at the restaurant. Detectives tested two soy sauce bottles and the unopened packets of soy sauce; the results did indicate they were positive for meth.
The owners of the restaurant published a Facebook post stating that they would be closing because they were unable to keep up with the financial costs.
No charges were pressed since deputies were “unable to determine who contaminated the food due to a lack of witness observations and surveillance footage.”
During the investigation, several staff members informed deputies a co-worker was acting suspiciously the day the seven customers felt unwell. The coworkers suspect the worker contaminated the food, but there was no evidence to support the accusation.
The restaurant statement read: “After more than ten years of serving the Pace community, we have decided to close Nikko Japanese Steakhouse. On June 10th, we heard, just like many of you did, of people being injured after eating at our restaurant. From the moment the story broke, we cooperated with authorities and all licensing agencies.
“It was determined by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s office that there was nothing linking the restaurant to the accusations, and after a clear survey by the health department, we re-open our doors. We are so thankful to our regulars who came back to support us, unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough to keep the doors open.
“Since then, we have been brutally harassed, daily, by various media outlets, who have slandered and defamed every aspect of our business. We have been investigated, searched, and questioned while fully cooperating at all times. That’s all we could do.
“Today, a family-owned and operated business is closed, 20 employees are out of work, all because of the power of social media. We are heartbroken, but were unable to sustain the cost to stay open, when it seemed that every day, a local news outlet wanted to find something else to report on.
“We have had the news at our place of business, called on our phones and have been harassed at our personal homes, it’s all just been too much. Thank you for your years of loyal patronage, for letting us celebrate your special occasions at our hibachi tables and for loving us through so many life changes, and even a global pandemic. Please, respect our privacy as we try to recover and figure out what our future holds. We will fondly remember our times together.”