Update: Photo now added to Flickr.
The owner of a Middlesbrough cafe has been fined £3,500 after breaching food hygiene rules. Environmental Health Officers from Middlesbrough Council’s Community Protection Service visited Manolia Shawerma, a cafe on Gresham Road, Middlesbrough in August, 2011 to carry out a routine food hygiene inspection.
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During the inspection the officers found conditions that presented an imminent risk of injury to health, including evidence of a mouse infestation and poor standards of cleanliness throughout the premises.
Middlesbrough Council used its emergency closure powers under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 to immediately stop the café serving food in order to remove the health risks.
Environmental Health Manager Judith Hedgley said: “The presence of a widespread mouse infestation combined with a lack of adequate cleaning and disinfection where foods were being handled presented a serious risk to consumer safety.
“The findings of the inspection indicated a severe lack of food safety management.”
Café owner Hawar Khalil was charged with failing to ensure that adequate procedures were in place to control pests, failing to manage food safety and failing to keep his food premises and equipment clean.
Mr Khalil was also charged with failing to register his food business with Middlesbrough Council.
After pleading guilty to all charges at Teesside Crown Court on Monday, July 9, Khalil was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay the Council’s costs of £675.
Judge Peter Fox QC told Khalil that he had pleaded guilty to a number of criminal offences relating to a shocking state of affairs in a food retail business in Middlesbrough, that food was being served in filthy and verminous conditions and there was an imminent and real risk to public health.
He added that if it wasn’t for his family and business circumstances and his early guilty pleas, the fine would have been nearer the maximum of £5,000 per offence. In passing sentence Judge Fox gave Khalil two years in which to pay his fines or face a custodial sentence.
Councillor Julia Rostron, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive Member for Community Protection, said: “Local people and visitors to the town have a right to expect that food served in Middlesbrough’s food businesses has been prepared in hygienic conditions and is safe to eat.
“The Council’s Environmental Health Officers carry out more than 600 inspections of food businesses every year.
“The vast majority of food businesses in Middlesbrough achieve very good food hygiene ratings. This gives local residents and visitors confidence that the food businesses they visit are up to standard.
“However, where poor hygiene practices and substandard conditions are found, we will take immediate action to safeguard public health.”
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