£1,800 court bill after mould-covered food find
RESTAURANT FRIDGES WEREN’T WORKING PROPERLY, COURT TOLD
THE woman responsible for hygiene at a restaurant where food was found covered in mould has been ordered to pay more than £1,800 in fines and costs.
During a routine visit to inspect food storage and preparation areas at Rozi’s Indian Restaurant in Minffordd Road near RAF Valley in Anglesey, environmental health inspectors from the council found mouldy food in refrigerators which were not working properly.
They also found food in uncovered containers which did not have date labels on them, and were concerned at the way cleaning cloths were washed and disinfected.
Nargis Ali, 45, of Lime Grove, Birmingham, accepted that she was the director responsible for food hygiene regulations at the restaurant, and admitted two charges of contravening the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations at Caernarfon Magistrates Court.
The court heard she is a housewife and her husband, Mohammed
Ali, was the manager at the restaurant and in charge of its day-to-day running.
Lesley Mitchell, prosecuting on behalf of Anglesey Council, said the inspection took place at about 5pm on May 8 this year.
“They met Mr Ali and inspected the food storage area at the rear of the premises,” she said.
“They found two freezers and three refrigerators. One of the refrigerators was turned off but contained cooked meat. Mr Ali said he had turned it off for cleaning but there was no evidence this had been done.
“Another refrigerator had mould growth on the door and contained food which was uncovered and had no dates as to when they had been prepared.
“The third contained onion bhajis which were seen to have mould on them and sauces which were again uncovered.”
Ms Mitchell said the temperatures in both refrigerators was higher than they should have been.
The kitchen was said to be generally clean, but the cleaning cloths were said to have been simply washed in the sink and this was deemed unsatisfactory.
Inspectors returned six days later and found work had been done to clean the refrigerators but mouldy food was found in one.
Ms Mitchell said this was disposed of by kitchen staff before it could be photographed.
The restaurant was given a zero hygiene rating by the inspectors until a further inspection took place in late July, when it was revised to three.
“The inspection in July showed practices and procedures were in place but these should have been in place earlier,” said Ms Mitchell.
“There was the risk of contamination and unsafe food being served to customers.”
Sion Hughes, defending, said Mrs Ali had very little input in the running of the restaurant but accepted she was responsible for complying with the regulations.
He added there had been staffing difficulties with some turnover and this had not helped the situation.
Mr Hughes insisted the food seen by the inspectors would not have been served to customers.
“It would have been binned as soon as it was spotted,” he said.
Nargis Ali was fined £245 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30. In addition, she must pay Anglesey council’s investigative costs of £1,576.
After the hearing, Les Pursglove, Anglesey council’s chief public protection officer, said: “It is clear that such disregard to food hygiene regulations and poor food safety management cannot be tolerated.
“This case reinforces our clear message that food safety must be taken seriously by all food premises.”