A Chinese takeaway has been fined thousands of pounds after customers complained to the council of food poisoning.
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The New World Express restaurant, in Regent Circus, was ordered to pay more than £14,000 after it was found to be failing to follow food hygiene regulations.
The restaurant, which had already been checked in 2008 and found to have numerous failings, was again found to be short of the proper standards when it was checked in September last year.
Some of the issues identified by the environmental officer included poor hygiene conditions, raw food not being stored properly, a build-up of grease and dirt on the floor and walls and staff not being properly trained in food hygiene.
As a result of customers complaining about food poisoning and a further check from the senior environmental officer, the restaurant was closed down for a week.
Yesterday, Lee Hoa, director of the company, appeared before magistrates and claimed that, since the checks, a lot of work had gone into ensuring the restaurant met the proper standards, including a week-long cleaning session when the restaurant was closed.
“When I purchased the business the previous owner didn’t invest in the building so I had to make a lot of changes and I invested a lot of money in the building,” said Hoa.
“But being a new business it was a financial strain.
“The food poisoning was because of one of our small suppliers who had supplied us eggs from Spain, which were contaminated with salmonella.
“That is the reason for the food poisoning. We have fully co-operated with the officers throughout the process to the extent that the last officer, who has now left, said she would be happy to eat there.
“I admit we could have handled it a lot better and we have now re-arranged the kitchen, making it easier to clean.”
Because of his early plea of guilty, Hoa was fined a total of £1,500 personally and £9,000 on behalf of the company plus costs of £4,088.87 and a victim surcharge of £15.
Chairwoman of the bench Mallathy Sitaram said: “Running a food business is not easy.
“It is only for goodness we have vigilant councils who keep check on business.
“What we have seen is pretty horrifying, people go to restaurants not expecting to have an upset tummy.
“There is some improvement but it is one of the most difficult things to maintain.
“Health and safety has to be adhered to so you a not putting the public in danger.”
Further Information
The source of this article is the ‘This is Wiltshire’ website, which can be found here.
