Butcher fined after cat uses meat as litter tray » Health » 24dash.com

A Brixton butcher has been fined £5,500 after a customer found cat faeces in a box of chicken he had bought.

Environmental Health officers discovered a stray cat had been roaming the premises at AM Quality Halal Meat Limited, 32 Atlantic Road after lab tests had confirmed meat had been contaminated with faeces.

They believe the cat entered the shop through a broken window, which has since been repaired.

The director of the company, Mr Adees Mahmood, pleaded guilty to three charges under Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 at Camberwell Magistrates’ Court on Monday July 9. 

The company was fined £4,000 for selling the contaminated meat, £1,000 for the cat on the premises and £500 for failing to notify Lambeth Council that the business had recently changed ownership. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £300, making a total of £5,800.   

Sandra Harewood, Food Safety Team Leader for Lambeth Council, said: “Both these cases were extremely serious, and by failing to ensure adequate hygiene standards these food retailers were seriously endangering the public.

"There is simply no excuse for restaurants and other food retailers to risk public health in this way, and I’m pleased that the court recognised the gravity of these cases and handed down substantial fines.

"The council can provide food safety advice to any business that needs it, but ultimately it is their responsibility to ensure that the food they sell is safe.”

Cllr Lib Peck, Cabinet Member for Environment and Culture on Lambeth Council, said: “I hope these fines send a clear message that the council will root out those who endanger the public in this way and prosecute them.

"I would like to thank the environmental health officers who investigated these cases and whose hard work ensured successful prosecutions.”

Meanwhile, a popular noodle restaurant in Brixton has been hit with a £14,000 fine after environmental health officers found the place infested with mice.

A Lambeth Council food safety team visited the Speedy Noodles, 506 Brixton Road, in August 2006 after a customer complained of suffering food poisoning after eating at the restaurant.

They found the kitchen in a filthy condition, with equipment caked in dirt. They also found mouse droppings on the kitchen floor, and while mouse traps had been laid in the basement, these had not got rid of the infestation.

The manager and food handlers were inadequately trained and basic food safety management procedures were not being followed.

At Camberwell Magistrates’ Court on Monday 9 July, Platman Ltd, the parent company of Speedy Noodles pleaded guilty to seven offences.

Magistrates fined Platman Ltd £2,000 for each of the seven offences under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006. 

These were:

1) dirty, unsanitary food premises
2) No training, instruction or supervision in the essentials of the food hygiene
3) open bulk containers of food stored under the leaking waste to hand washing basin
4) No food safety management system
5) dirty food equipment
6) Mouse infestation
7) no procedures in place to prevent pests gaining access to premises. The company was also ordered to pay the council’s full costs of £1,717.60.

Food safety officers ordered the restaurant to be closed after the discovery, and have since been working with the restaurant to improve hygiene conditions.

The restaurant has now reopened after the council became satisfied that any health risk to the public had been removed.

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