Lye shopkeepers fined for food hygiene offences
The owners of a discount store in the West Midlands town of Lye have been fined thousands of pounds by the local council after admitting a number of food hygiene offences.
Whilst on a routine inspection of the Lye Discount Store on High Street, Dudley Council’s environmental health team uncovered total of ten breaches of food hygiene and safety regulations.
The case was brought to Halesowen Magistrates Court, where shopkeepers Mohammed Nazabuth and Parveen Akhtar were accused of failures to:
- Protect food from the risk of contamination (raw meat was reportedly left hanging above salad in a chiller cabinet)
- Store refuse hygienically
- Implement a food safety management system
- Keep food premises and equipment clean and well-maintained
Mr Nazabuth, who was reportedly left in charge of the business whilst his sister Ms Akhtar was temporarily absent, admitted to not being aware of his responsibilities in relation to food safety. The pair were fined a total of £6,500 for breaching food hygiene regulations.
The offences uncovered at the Lye shop would normally be covered as part of a food hygiene course, which all people left in charge of a food-related business are recommended to undergo.