Exemplary fine for filthy restaurant welcomed by environmental health staff
27/06/08
Environmental Health officers have welcomed the imposition of what is believed to be the biggest fine ever imposed on an Aberdeen restaurant for a string of hygiene breaches.
Zara Bar Brasserie Ltd, of Burnside Drive, Dyce, was fined £12,500 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, (Thursday, 26 June) after being convicted at trial (on 4 June) on all 12 charges against it.
The firm was reported to the Procurator Fiscal by Aberdeen City Council’s Environmental Health department after it failed to clean up its act despite eight visits by environmental health officers.
Senior environmental health officer Andrea Carson said: “Aberdeen City Council’s environmental health staff make every effort to assist businesses with compliance with the legislation. However, those individuals who continually flout the law and fail to act on advice given will not be tolerated.
“The penalty issued to this company should act as a deterrent to others who fail to recognise the importance of complying with food hygiene legislation.”
The firm, which specialises in Indian cuisine, prepared in the main restaurant kitchen and bar meals prepared in the smaller bar kitchen, was visited eight times between July 2006 and January 2007. Several contraventions of hygiene regulations were noted.
During the first visit in July 2006, the premises was found to be in a generally poor condition throughout and conditions of cleanliness within the kitchen and food storage areas were completely unacceptable. Particular areas of concern included:
• Several pieces of dirty, large food equipment were stacked at the side of the kitchen obstructing the wash hand basin;
• The old and food encrusted oven left by the previous owners remained in the preparation area;
• The floor, walls and many of the food surfaces were covered with debris and grease;
• Several pieces of food equipment were found to be very dirty with accumulations of old and spoiled food. For example, a plate warming unit in the restaurant kitchen contained old chips which were now only cooked in the bar kitchen and had not been prepared in this area since the time of the previous owners;
• The door catch of the walk-in chill was broken meaning the door did not close and the unit operated at 14-16C. It should operate in the 0-8C range, and preferably in the 0-5C range.
• Two fridges in the preparation area had broken down, but food was still stored inside and covered in heavy mould growth. The vegetables were fermenting and there was a noxious odour.
• The bar kitchen area was in a filthy condition with a heavy build up of grease and old food materials throughout.
• No hand washing was noted to take place by food handling staff.
• There were no suitable cleaning chemicals available for use in the kitchen area and there were dirty utensils and equipment throughout.
Another visit was carried out on August 3, when the doors to the bin store, which was in an appalling condition, were open. Broken bottles and food waste, including prawns, cream cakes, cheese products and chips, were strewn across the floor and spread through the bin shed into the car park. There was a fly problem in the area.
It was evident to the officers when they entered the kitchen that very little improvement had been made to the premises. The areas of floor underneath the counter fridges and cooking equipment had huge accumulations of food debris, dirt, grease and spoiled food items.
A frying pan containing a spoiled item of food, which appeared to be an old fried egg was found under the shelving unit next to the grill. The chef was unable to identify the food, which had been there for some time and was solid.
There were flies in the kitchen and high risk food, including cooked chicken and cooked rice, were not kept refrigerated.
Zara Bar Brasserie was visited again on 20 October 2006, and again very little had been done to improve conditions. Officers were particularly concerned by the filthy bar kitchen, where a long dark hair was found in a cooked burger meal which was waiting to be served.
The state of the restaurant kitchen also gave serious cause for concern – dirty cloths were being used, prawns were left to defrost outwith temperature control, and large quantities of high risk food, such as chicken, were being stored at room temperature and constituting a food poisoning risk.
Another visit was made on 2 November 2006, and while some improvements had been made, the bar kitchen was still filthy.
A marked improvement in conditions was noted during a further visit on 22 November, but kitchen hygiene had again deteriorated by the time environmental health officers visited the premises again on 22 December.
On that occasion, the officers inspected the bar, which had not previously been looked at. It was in a filthy condition with accumulated water, broken glass, dirt, drink spillages, and waste items found under the glass wash machine. The wash hand basin to the side of the bar, by the bar kitchen servery area, contained four dirty cloths, dirty oven gloves, and a set of electrical hair straighteners.
A further visit was made on 16 January 2007, when conditions had improved, but there were still several issues which gave cause for concern. These included serious cross-contamination risks in the walk-in chill with open raw meats such as sausages and mince noted above or beside ready to eat foods, dirty cloths and aprons in the food preparation area, the stock rotation system had broken down, the walk-in freezer was a complete mess, and no staff food hygiene training had been received or booked.
If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 01224 522000.
