A program that has provided meals to seniors and children in Halifax’s north end for nearly 40 years has been shut down by the Nova Scotia government.

Organizers at the Ward 5 Neighbourhood Centre say nothing has changed about the service they provide, but they have been told they can no longer serve food until they upgrade their dishwashing practices.

The centre’s executive director says government officials broke the news to him on Friday after receiving a complaint.

“We do need to follow guidelines,” admits Doug MacDonald.

The centre needs a food establishment permit, but it can’t get the permit until it installs two extra sinks – one dedicated to handwashing and one dedicated to sanitizing – or until it purchases a commercial dishwasher.

“We’d probably be looking at, to get a new one, and the carpentry work and electrical, probably $8,000,” says MacDonald. “We don’t have that money.”

The centre provides breakfast and lunch for up to 50 children a day, and MacDonald says some of those children simply won’t eat while the program is shut down.

“I think it’s important that when the belly is working right, the mind is working right, and that’s been proven,” he says.

The shutdown will also impact seniors in need.

“We have one woman here, this is her 36th year now,” says client Paulette Dannof Jennie Lewin. “She’s blind. What is she going to do now?”

“It was a shock. Hard to take,” says Lewin. “We’re like a big family. A lot of the same people come every day.”

In addition to the extra sinks or dishwasher, organizers also need to take a food handling training course.

The provincial government says it didn’t want to shut the program down, but says organizers have to follow the rules.

“We’ve just become aware of it and we’ll certainly work with them very quickly, as quickly as possible to get them back into the operation providing the valuable service they do to the community,” says Vic Schwartz, regional manager of Food Safety for the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture.

Schwartz says the government is committed to working with the centre to get them back in business.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell