Raw meat dripping on sponges: UK takeaway owner ‘had scant regard for food safety’ in filthy fast food outlet

Filthy conditions and hygiene breaches including a lack of a staff toilet were uncovered at a Bradford fast food restaurant in a swoop by environmental health officers, a court heard.

Raw meat was found to be kept next to fresh food and a collandar of thawing chicken was found to be dripping on to cleaning sponges at Fresh Fillingz in Duckworth Lane.

Fresh FillingzMohammed Ayaz Rashid, 46, then sole owner of the business, appeared before Bradford and Keighley magistrates yesterday after pleading guilty to a total of 10 charges on Tuesday – the day before he was due to face trial.

Abdul Shakoor, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said the eight food hygiene and two health and safety charges related to findings made during an inspection of the property on January 23 last year.

Rashid, of Granville Road, Frizinghall, also asked for a further 10 food hygiene breaches, identified on subsequent visits to the business in July 2013 and January this year, to be taken into consideration by the court.

Details of the charges included numerous food cross-contamination issues, food being prepared on a freezer top, and cleanliness problems including a dirty fridge, grease-encrusted air filters above the cooker, and a lack of disinfectant to clean work surfaces.

Mr Shakoor said staff had not been adequately trained in food hygiene procedures, and that Rashid had failed to comply with a hygiene notice, telling the court he “showed little regard for food safety in his business”.

The court also heard that Rashid had breached health and safety regulations due to a lack of suitable handwashing facilities for staff who had to use a toilet, kept padlocked, at premises two doors away.