£500 fine for food hygiene breach
Published Thursday, 02 September 2010
The operator of Uddingston takeaway Ahmed Tandoori has been fined £500 for breaching food hygiene requirements.
The restaurant at 165 Main Street was visited last month by the council's Environmental Health service following a complaint about poor waste storage and disposal causing a nuisance.
A programmed food hygiene inspection was also carried out and the environmental health officer found poor standards of food safety and hygiene indicating a failure to comply with legal obligations.
Food being handled and prepared in such conditions can potentially expose customers to risk.
Farzand Ali, the operator of the food business, failed to fulfil his statutory obligations by not meeting requirements under the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006.
This included failing to ensure the food premises and equipment were kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition, failure to ensure food was protected against contamination, failure to ensure food handlers were suitably trained and wore protective clothing and a failure to put in place food safety procedures based on HACCP principles (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point - internationally recognised and recommended system of food safety management).
Mr Ali plead guilty on seven charges of non-compliance with Food Hygiene Requirements and was sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court on the 28th August 2010 and a cumulative fine of £500 was imposed.
Jim Stirling, the council's Environmental Health Manager, said: "This sends out a message to all food businesses in South Lanarkshire that we will not hesitate to take legal action to protect public health where breaches of food safety law are found.
"We would rather work with food businesses to maintain good standards of hygiene.
"However, in this instance, enforcement action was necessary as the educational approach proved unsuccessful. Poor standards of food safety and hygiene continued to be observed at this takeaway which could have had a serious effect on their customers' health.
"We will continue to make sure consumers are protected by taking a consistent, appropriate and balanced approach to enforcement."
