Hull takeaway posed immediate threat to consumers
Environmental health officers branded a Hull Chinese takeaway ‘dreadful’ and ordered it to be closed with immediate effect when they inspected it in December of last year.
Among the food hygiene breaches discovered at the restaurant were:
- Prepared food that was contaminated by raw meat
- Food that was past its use-by date
- Cooked food was not cooled properly
- An absence of temperature monitoring for hot, cold and frozen food
- Staff handling food were not wearing overalls
- Cigarette butts were found on the floor of food storage areas
- Staff had not received food safety training
- No soap was provided for hand-washing purposes
The findings were enough for health officers to issue a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice and the take-away will not be able to re-open until it has taken appropriate action. The council will then decide whether hygiene conditions still represent a threat to public health.
It is important not to underestimate the importance of food hygiene practices in businesses preparing, selling or serving food. Food poisoning can be unpleasant at best, but in serious cases it can have lasting and debilitating consequences and can even result in death.