Geoff
09-01-2004, 17:36
The owner of a take-away food outlet in the Firth Park area has been successfully prosecuted by Sheffield Council's Environmental Health Services team.
The case was heard yesterday (Thursday 8 January) before Sheffield Magistrates Court. Mohammad Arshad, the proprietor of the Pakistan Sweet Centre (Takeaway) at 166 Firth Park Road pleaded guilty to all five offences tried for and the magistrates imposed a fine of £1500 with £500 costs.
The prosecution followed a routine inspection of the Pakistan Sweet Centre by Environmental Health Officers on the 28 November 2002. The take-away was found to be in an extremely dirty condition with accumulations of dirt to the food preparation areas, thick black mould on the chopping boards, heavily soiled refrigerators, a storeroom with mould to the ceiling and walls, poppadums in soiled cardboard containers and a kebab slicer encrusted in grease and old meat debris.
The outside shared yard was a quagmire of mud and sludge which was being trailed into the kitchen and it was difficult to see where the sludge ended and the kitchen began. The premise was also in a state of disrepair and without sanitary facilities. The toilet was not accessible due to the dangerous condition of the floor and wasn't even connected to the water supply, but had still been used by food handlers and was in a filthy condition.
Officers ordered Mr Arshad to make an immediate clean up. While this was done the structural work was outstanding and after revisiting the premises several times Improvement Notices were served on 12 March 2003. Despite Mr Arshad requesting and being granted a time extension, the structural works had still not been completed by 11 June 2003.
Mr Arshad pleaded mitigating circumstances including business costs and personal stress. The Magistrates imposed a fine of £1500 out of a possible maximum of £25 000 or a prison sentence.
Councillor Gill Furniss, the Council's Cabinet member for Development, Environment and Leisure said: "We regard protecting public health in the City as being our main priority and take any lapses in food hygiene standards very seriously. This case shows that we will prosecute food businesses that are dirty and that breach food hygiene regulations. We make every effort to provide assistance and guidance to help proprietors meet standards, but when that is ignored or when serious offences are witnessed we will not hesitate to prosecute".
The case was heard yesterday (Thursday 8 January) before Sheffield Magistrates Court. Mohammad Arshad, the proprietor of the Pakistan Sweet Centre (Takeaway) at 166 Firth Park Road pleaded guilty to all five offences tried for and the magistrates imposed a fine of £1500 with £500 costs.
The prosecution followed a routine inspection of the Pakistan Sweet Centre by Environmental Health Officers on the 28 November 2002. The take-away was found to be in an extremely dirty condition with accumulations of dirt to the food preparation areas, thick black mould on the chopping boards, heavily soiled refrigerators, a storeroom with mould to the ceiling and walls, poppadums in soiled cardboard containers and a kebab slicer encrusted in grease and old meat debris.
The outside shared yard was a quagmire of mud and sludge which was being trailed into the kitchen and it was difficult to see where the sludge ended and the kitchen began. The premise was also in a state of disrepair and without sanitary facilities. The toilet was not accessible due to the dangerous condition of the floor and wasn't even connected to the water supply, but had still been used by food handlers and was in a filthy condition.
Officers ordered Mr Arshad to make an immediate clean up. While this was done the structural work was outstanding and after revisiting the premises several times Improvement Notices were served on 12 March 2003. Despite Mr Arshad requesting and being granted a time extension, the structural works had still not been completed by 11 June 2003.
Mr Arshad pleaded mitigating circumstances including business costs and personal stress. The Magistrates imposed a fine of £1500 out of a possible maximum of £25 000 or a prison sentence.
Councillor Gill Furniss, the Council's Cabinet member for Development, Environment and Leisure said: "We regard protecting public health in the City as being our main priority and take any lapses in food hygiene standards very seriously. This case shows that we will prosecute food businesses that are dirty and that breach food hygiene regulations. We make every effort to provide assistance and guidance to help proprietors meet standards, but when that is ignored or when serious offences are witnessed we will not hesitate to prosecute".