This undated screen snapshot shows leftover pickled turnips made into a "fresh" dish to serve mainland Chinese diners at Taimali Baishawan Restaurant in Taitung, Taiwan. [Photo: United Daily]

A restaurant in Taiwan disclosed Tuesday that it served reheated leftovers as fresh dishes to visitors from the Chinese mainland, Chinanews.com reports.

A former employee at the Taimali Baishawan Restaurant in Taitung said the restaurant recycled the leftovers of other diners and remade them as fresh dishes to serve to tourists from the Chinese mainland.

The former employee also recorded a short video in which leftover pickled turnips were recycled and later divided into four small plates for mainland diners.

After the report was published, tourists from the Chinese mainland said they were disgusted by the restaurant's activities.

One person in charge of the restaurant apologized to customers, adding that recycling leftovers was a standard practice of the restaurant manager, who had already been fired.

Taiwan's health authority said it closed down the restaurant temporarily for internal rectification.

It is estimated that more than 10,000 customers have eaten recycled dishes at the restaurant in the past month.

In 2012, another restaurant, Daniu Beef Noodles of Kaohsiung, was discovered to have recycled leftover food for diners and was later shut down.