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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- Expired food is just one of the reasons health inspectors shut down a Valley Middle Eastern restaurant. When Southern Nevada Health District inspectors walked through the kitchen of Cedars Restaurant on March 21 on Maryland Parkway near Flamingo, they spotted numerous violations.

They saw cereal that expired in January and ham that expired in February. Foods were being stored at improper temperatures and an employee was seen cutting pickles without wearing gloves. Inspectors found single use containers being used to store other foods. All in all, inspectors cited Cedars Restaurant with 48 demerits, closing them down. Anything over 40 demerits is an automatic closure. So Contact 13 stopped by the restaurant to ask what they're going to correct the violations.

The owner wasn't there but she did send us a statement via email saying, "The Health Department did not conduct their investigation properly." She says the Health District, "Included many false accusations and duplicated some items on their list to create more demerits."

She says the expired cereal was for personal use. The statement goes on to say, "All legitimate accusations are corrected and the business is back in operation with an 'A' grade."

The Southern Nevada Health District confirms Cedars Restaurant was reinspected on March 27and is back open with a two demerit 'A' grade.

Below is the full statement from the owner of Cedars Restaurant:

To whom it may concern:

This is in regards to the accusations against our business, The health department did not conduct their investigation properly, they have included many false accusations and duplicated some items on their list to create more demerits. Items 19 & 30 are one and the same listed twice, items 33 & 13 are the same.

The situation is under investigation at the time being in hope to get a resolution. in the meantime all legitimate accusations are corrected and the business is back in operation with an 'A' grade. In example the expired cereal which was for personal use and stored away from food served has been discarded, and so on and so forth. Also for the alleged "salad debris," a salad was being served at the same time the inspector entered the property, the operator was serving the food to return to the counter and clean everything, as for the bare hands cutting pickle, the operator had a glove on the hand that was holding the pickle which the inspector decided to ignore and overlook.

At the time being we feel that the airing of the story is premature, unfair and unjust due to the discrepancies and the ongoing investigation, therefore we wish for you to hold the publication of the story.

Thank you
                                                                                                                                        Asma Asher