Winchester City Council prosecutes another food premises for poor food hygiene
On the 5 March 2012 Ranigold Ltd the company that operates The Balaka restaurant of Stoney Lane, Week pleaded guilty to 6 offences in the Andover Magistrates Court. They were fined a total of £12,000 plus costs of £7,000.
Winchester City Council decided to prosecute following a routine inspection in April 2011 when the inspecting officers found that hygiene standards had again fallen to an unacceptable level.
Cllr Victoria Weston, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport said:
The City Council will not hesitate to take action in the courts when businesses continue to fail to comply with food safety legislation, they have a choice to listen to the inspection team or face the consequences if they do not.”
At the inspection in April the inspectors found:
- Poor cleaning issues in relation to equipment and surfaces within the kitchen such as the microwaves and fridges.
- A cheese grater, ladle, pizza slicer, knife and ready to use skewers were covered with an accumulation of grease and detritus.
- A wash hand basin that was not working and damage to the foul drainage system.
- No controls for maintaining the safety of cooked rice.
- Poor structure that could have allowed the ingress of pests.
- Poor food safety management system.