Moseley restaurant fined £12,000 for dirty conditions
A popular Birmingham restaurant pleaded guilty to 12 offences under the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 at Birmingham Magistrates Court today (20 November 2014).
Nathaniel’s Restaurant, in St Mary’s Row, Moseley, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £1,566 in costs.
Environmental health officers visiting the bijou restaurant on 20 March 2014 found a number of food items that were unfit for human consumption, including mouldy pate and liver, putrefied lamb chops, fish fillets and prawns, plus open milk and cream that was past their use-by date.
Officers also found the kitchen to be filthy, where food was not protected against cross-contamination with raw ingredients – including defrosting meat and prawns – stored with ready to eat items.
Items of food found to be out-of-date or unfit for human consumption were disposed of immediately.
Cllr Barbara Dring, Chair of the city council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “Officers inspecting Nathaniel’s Restaurant, Moseley, in March 2014 found numerous items of food which were unfit for human consumption, including prawns, fish and meat, and items of food past their ‘use-by’ date, such as pate, cream and milk, in addition to dirty equipment, filthy conditions in the kitchen and inadequate food safety procedures and practices.
“Nathaniel’s is a place which diners often go for a special occasion, so they would not expect the quality of its food or cleanliness of its kitchen to be questioned – but this case shows even the most reputable or popular restaurants can have sub-standard practices.â€
Four hygiene improvement notices were served on Nathaniel’s on 25 March 2014, which related to the lack of a food safety management system, food hygiene training, cleaning of kitchen equipment and the general cleanliness of the premises.
Nathaniel’s was allowed to remain open to diners during this investigation.
ENDS
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