Former takeaway owner fined for dirty kitchen offences

A former Salford takeway owner has been fined for failing to keep his premises clean, despite previous warnings.

Mr Chi Wui Kong, former owner of Hodge Road Oriental, Hodge Road, Worsley, pleaded guilty to three offences of failing to keep the premises clean, failing to ensure the provision of adequate facilities for the cleaning of working utensils and equipment, and failing to implement effective monitoring procedures as part of the food safety management system.

The offences fall under The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

Mr Kong, who appeared at Salford and Manchester magistrates court on Thursday, November 18, was fined £180, ordered to pay £1,000 in costs and £34 in victim surcharge.

The court was told that environmental health officers visited the shop, which is a former terraced house, on Tuesday, January 15, as part of a routine inspection and smelt stale grease as soon as they entered the kitchen.

They found large amounts of food debris and grease on the floors, preparation tables and shelves throughout the kitchen and food preparation rooms.

It was particularly bad around the cooking range and extractor fan canopy and the amount of grease on the stainless steel splashback behind the cooker showed that a deep clean had not taken place for some time.

The boiler was not working so there was no hot water for the sinks and no records had been kept showing how long it had been out of action or what interim measures were in place to keep the premises clean.

By law, Mr Kong should have kept daily safety records showing that daily opening and closing checks were being made. The booklet to record such checks had not been updated since March 2018, despite council officers giving previous advice on this at earlier inspections and issuing a hygiene improvement notice in December 2017, after informal requests to keep proper records were ignored.

Mr Kong did comply and improve cleaning after that. The takeaway was given a food hygiene rating of one and listed for annual inspections.

In January 2019, Salford City Council issued further hygiene improvement notices for the implementation of an effective food safety management system and provision of hot water for effective cleaning, which were complied with and cleaning also improved.

Mr Kong left the business and it closed for a number of months. It re-opened under different ownership and achieved a food hygiene rating of five in September 2021.

Speaking after the case, Cllr David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety, said: “Food hygiene laws are there to protect the public and business owners must not ignore them.

“I hope this sends a clear message that we will take action to make sure businesses comply and keep the public safe.”