Butcher with no soap prosecuted

A BUTCHER has been handed a suspended sentence for food hygiene failings – including filthy floors, having no soap, and raw meat stored near cooked food.

Asif Riaz, the previous owner of Madni Halal Meat, based in High Street, Lye, Stourbridge must also pay a hefty court bill following the offences, which came to light during a routine food hygiene inspection in May 2019.

Riaz, 41, pleaded guilty to eight food hygiene offences when he appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

He was sentenced to four weeks imprisonment for each of the offences, which was suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to do 100 hours community service and pay £2,000 costs.

The court heard the premises was given a zero food hygiene rating after it emerged that cleaning standards were terrible.

Environmental health officers found the floor in the food room was damaged and unclean, there was no soap provided at the wash basin for washing hands and the door to the rear yard was left open allowing flies access into the premises.

Cardboard and other refuse was not stored suitably, and raw meat was stored in a way that presented a risk of contamination to readyto-eat food. The food safety management system was also found to be incomplete and Riaz had failed to notify the authority that there had been a change in ownership.

Dudley Council confirmed that there has now been a change in ownership of the food business and that Riaz was no longer the proprietor.

Karen Wright, the borough’s director of public health and wellbeing, said: “The public have a right to expect that shops from which they purchase their food do not put their health at risk. It is right that this proprietor has now been held to account for the most unsatisfactory conditions.”