‘FILTHY’ conditions have been found at a Coventry food business.
The former operator of Chef Wang in Torrington Avenue has been given a 12-month conditional discharge after pleading guilty to food hygiene offences.
Mrs Liang Zheng pleaded guilty to three hygiene offences at Coventry Magistrates Court on March 12.
Mrs Zheng was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay fines totalling more than £3,390.
During an unannounced food hygiene inspection in June 2023, Food and Safety Officers found filthy conditions were found throughout the kitchen.
The standard of cleaning was poor – both day to day cleaning such as touch points, as well as deeper cleaning.
Officers found hand wash basins were not in use, either being obstructed or not provided with soap and hygienic hand drying facilities.
Dirty and deteriorated cloths were being used for cleaning, staff were not wearing clean protective clothing, and there were flies throughout the food preparation and handling areas.
Officers worked with the food business to ensure conditions were improved and it was safe to operate.
The following month, the business’ hygiene was rated as ‘generally satisfactory’ following a paid-for request for a re-rating revisit.
A Coventry City Council spokesperson said: “When questioned about the poor conditions found in June 2023, Mrs Zheng did not appear to understand the gravity of the situation and did not think the conditions found by officers were poor, thus demonstrating that Mrs Zheng’s baseline cleaning standards do not match those of food hygiene law.”
Mrs Zheng pleaded guilty to three offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations in respect of failure to keep the premises clean, failure to protect food from contamination, and failure to implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points principles.
The business has been subject to several inspections since the poor conditions were found in 2023.
In June 2024, the business’ hygiene was rated as ‘major improvement is necessary’ following an unannounced food hygiene inspection
Following payment for a rating revisit, a further unannounced inspection was carried out in August 2024 which resulted in the rating being upgraded to ‘good’.
Coun Abdul Salam Khan, the council’s Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, said: “It is vital that people running food businesses in Coventry are running clean and safe establishments all of the time to ensure the safety of the food they sell to customers.
“This is a reminder to all Food Business Operators to ensure they have a clean kitchen with suitably trained staff undertaking regular and thorough cleaning every day to prevent a problem like this occurring and putting customers at a risk to their health.”
Davina Blackburn, Strategic Lead for Regulation and Communities in the city, added: “We take a staged approach to enforcement and prosecution is a matter of last resort. Wherever possible, officers will always try to work with businesses offering advice and guidance – but will take the necessary actions if they feel there is a risk to health.”
Email [email protected] or call 0808 5834333 to report unsatisfactory food hygiene conditions in food businesses in Coventry.
