Oldham business and director fined for breaching food hygiene

An Oldham food business and its director were fined more than £6,000 in total, after evidence of mouse droppings, dirty cooking equipment and accumulations of food debris were discovered at its premises.

Zaike Dar Food Limited and Sajad Hussain, who attended on behalf of the company in his personal capacity as director, were both found in breach of food safety laws following a food hygiene inspection of Kebbaish Peri Peri on West Street in December 2018.

During the inspection, environmental health officers uncovered accumulations of mouse droppings at the feet of various items of equipment, a dirty towel dispenser, and food on various bits of equipment including sink taps, a tandoori oven, a bonza tin opener and filters in a canopy.

The premises had also not been cleaned to an adequate standard, while mouse droppings were found throughout the premises including on equipment which comes into contact with food.

The front display fridge, chopping boards and a vegetable slicer were also found to be dirty and hadn’t be cleaned correctly, while refuse bins were overflowing and an accumulation of waste outside the premises was located in the car park and the rear yard.

On 20 February this year, Mr Hussain pleaded guilty to all offences for himself and the company under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

The company was fined £3,745, including a victim surge charge of £170 and contribution costs totalling £575, while the director was also fined £1,803, including a victim surge charge of £76 and contribution costs totalling £575.

Councillor Ateeque Ur-Rehman, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “Food hygiene laws must be taken very seriously and we, as a council, are doing everything we can to ensure every business in our borough complies with these regulations having already prosecuted a number of business that fail to do this.

“The majority of businesses across Oldham have a food hygiene rating of 3 or above with only a small percentage of business owners failing to meet the correct standards.

“We will continue to take action against this small minority to ensure that they make the necessary changes to keep their premises clean and well maintained in accordance with the law.”

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme provides customers with clear information about a businesses’ hygiene standards. The scheme is run in partnership with the Food Standards Agency and local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The scheme gives businesses a rating based from 5 to 0, which is displayed at their premises and online so people can make informed choices about where to buy and eat food.

All Oldham food business ratings are on the Food Standards Agency website at https://ratings.food.gov.uk/QuickSearch.aspx.