Caterer Fined Health & Food Hygiene Breaches
A catering business in Ely was recently fined £5,000 and the business owner was also fined £2000 at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court after an inspection by Health and Safety Inspectors revealed a number of food hygiene breaches.
Amandeep Murria of Kangs Solicitors comments.
The Circumstances | Kangs Food Hygiene Solicitors
The company in question catered for weddings, birthday parties and christenings. Inspectors carried out a spot check revealing the following:
- out of date food items being stored on the premises
- black mould growth was discovered on the fridge and freezer
- staff did not know the correct temperature to store chilled food
- staff failed to wash their hands correctly
- some foods were not stored properly
- essential monitoring records had not been correctly completed
The Court Proceedings | Kangs Food Safety & Hygiene Defence Solicitors
At the Hearing before Cambridge Magistrates’ Court, the company and the business owner pleaded guilty to food hygiene offences and the Magistrates imposed:
- a fine of £7,000
- which included costs totalling £1,793.66 and a
- victim surcharge.
Councillor Carol Sennitt, service delivery champion for Environmental Services, was quoted to have said:
“Public safety is very important and in this case public health was deemed to be at risk.”
"We work very hard with businesses in the area to try to ensure they keep up food safety standards.
“In this case we were disappointed to find advice had not been followed and standards had slipped. For the protection of the public we had to take legal action."
She added: “Business owners who run food establishments must comply with food laws or be prepared to face the consequences – we will not allow them to put safety of at risk".
Our environmental health team is here to help and if you do run an establishment and you need advice around food legislation please get in touch.
How Can We Help? | Kangs Environmental Health Solicitors
Kangs Solicitors have a wealth of knowledge and experience in dealing with all matters of environmental health and food hygiene law.
As is clear from the case above, the Courts are not afraid to impose large fines in recognition of the serious threat to public health that unhygienic and unsafe operations pose.
Who Can I Contact For Help? | Kangs National Criminal Defence Solicitors
Please feel free to contact our team through any of our solicitors named below who will be happy to provide you with some initial advice and assistance.
Suki Randhawa
srandhawa@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
John Veale
jveale@kangssolicitors.co.uk
020 7936 6396 | 0121 449 9888
Helen Holder
hholder@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
