Dudley takeaway's £8,000 bill over hygiene
The owner of a takeaway has been made to pay more than £8,000 for a string of hygiene failings.
Inspectors uncovered dirty cooking pans at Sunrise Takeaway in Priory Road, Dudley, while there were a number of hygiene breaches.
A court was told how chicken and beef was being kept at the wrong temperature and raw meat was being stored next to cooked ribs.
Damaged cooking equipment and cracked wall tiles were also found in the kitchen.
Checks on staff revealed they had not been trained in food hygiene and a food safety management system had not been put in place, Dudley Council said.
The takeaway was given the lowest possible hygiene rating of zero following the inspection.
There has since been slight improvement as it currently has a rating of one out of five.
Owner Qui Hua Huang, aged 44, was fined £6,900 after pleading guilty to 10 offences relating to food hygiene at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court on October 27.
He was also ordered to pay court costs of £1,558.
Zhong Huang, who is involved in the running of the takeaway, insisted hygiene standards had improved since the inspection last year.
He said: "That was a bad time, we were short staffed and we had too many problems.
"It has already been made better. Our rating now would either be four or five, there is no problem at the moment. All the equipment has improved. We have spent £20,000 to improve everything."
Following the hearing, Dudley Council's health boss Councillor Rachel Harris said: "This prosecution sends out a clear message that we're tough on food hygiene failings.
"We have a zero tolerance of zero hygiene ratings and work very closely with businesses to ensure they know the law and offer help and advice where we can.
"However, in certain cases, prosecution is the only option in our bid to ensure people are protected when buying food in the Dudley borough."
Councillor Harris moved to assure people that the majority of the borough's food outlets were meeting the expected hygiene standards.
She said: "Nearly half of all food outlets in the borough are achieving the top hygiene rating of five and the vast majority achieve a satisfactory rating of three or more.
"I'd encourage consumers to check out hygiene ratings online as these will give consumers a glimpse of what is going on in the kitchen when they eat out, or behind the scenes at the places they shop."
