The owner of a Caerphilly-based food business has been taken to court and fined following a council investigation that revealed the business practised poor food hygiene standards, had no food safety management procedures and continued to trade and advertise on a website and Facebook despite notification to the council of its closure.
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Rhiannon Cornwall, the operator of Incredible Edibles, previously of Station Terrace, The Bowls, Caerphilly was taken to court by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Environmental Health and Trading Standards teams following an investigation which came about as a result of customer complaints and a premises inspection.
The investigation uncovered several breaches of Food Safety and Trading Standards legislation, and that the business also continued to trade without registering as a food business with Caerphilly County Borough Council.
The case was heard at Abergavenny Magistrates Court on 5th November 2012. Cornwall pleaded guilty to a total of 13 offences and was ordered to pay a fine totalling £1,950 (£150 for each offence), together with prosecution costs of £350 and a £15 victim surcharge.
Of the 13 offences, 11 were contrary to the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006 and included ‘failing to maintain the food business in a clean, well maintained condition’, ‘failing to ensure that food handlers had received food hygiene training’, ‘failure to put in place, implement and maintain food safety management procedures’, and between 11th July and 19th October 2011 ‘continuing to advertise and operate the business without notification to Caerphilly County Borough Council’.
The other two offences related to breaches of the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, where Cornwall stated on a website ‘Our catering is of the highest standard all handmade, using only the freshest quality locally sourced ingredients’.
Cllr David Poole, Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services said, “Our team of officers work tirelessly to promote the importance of food businesses complying with food hygiene and associated legislation, but if businesses choose to ignore our advice and do not take appropriate steps to protect the safety of their customers, we will not hesitate to take formal action through the courts, as we have done in this particular case”.
