Thousands of Black Country and Staffordshire businesses warned over their food hygiene

More than 3,400 written warnings were issued to restaurants, cafes, and other companies across the Black Country and Staffordshire during 2017 and 2018, new data from the Food Standards Agency has revealed.

Dudley came out the worst across both regions, with 933 cautions sent out due to issues such as cleanliness and the improper separation of foods. There were also 12 hygiene improvement notices served.

Businesses given the notices included Indian restaurant Chutney and Better Buys, both in Coseley, Cashino in Brierley Hill, Nisa Local in Colley Gate, Cradley and the Black Bear pub in Lower Gornal - all have since complied.

Walsall saw 801 written warnings over the same time period, with two prosecutions made over concerns.

They included the former owner of Blakenall One Call Peri Peri, Muhammed Abdul Moueed Khan, who pleaded guilty in court to six offences including the selling of food unfit for human consumption last month.

Prosecutions

In Sandwell 774 cautions were issued and in Wolverhampton it was 402 during the same time period.

And Stafford saw 316 warnings over food hygiene, while there were 192 in Cannock Chase.

In total there were more than 150,000 written warnings handed out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2017-18, and 267 successful prosecutions. Scotland collects its data separately.

Breaches of hygiene regulations can include problems with cleanliness, training of staff, record keeping, washing facilities and separation of cooked and raw foods.

After finding a business to be breaching hygiene regulations, officials then consider the seriousness of the case, as well as the co-operation of the business, before deciding on what action to take.

Nina Purcell, director of regulatory delivery at the FSA, said: "It’s encouraging that local authorities have made improvements in the percentage of interventions achieved and are continuing to target their activities at food businesses where food safety risks are the highest or where food fraud is more likely."

An FSA spokeswoman encouraged people who see bad food hygiene to report it to the council.

In a statement, she said: "You can report poor hygiene practices in a restaurant, store or other food outlet to the business's local authority at food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem/report-poor-hygiene-practices."