Restaurant fined after inspectors discover dirty walls and floors
A Cannock restaurant with dirty walls and floors has been found guilty of seven breaches of food hygiene.
Garden House Express Limited, the company which operates the China Garden restaurant at High Green Court, and a company director, have been fined £9,000 at Cannock Magistrates' Court on Monday.
This followed inspections carried out on January 17 this year and on March 1 2018.
Garden House Express Limited was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £2,220 towards Cannock Chase Council’s costs.
Company director, Zi Yao Gao, was fined a further £500 and ordered to pay £2,219 in costs.
Surcharges totalling £220 were also imposed.
The court heard how Environmental Health officers from the council visited China Garden on both occasions and found the restaurant’s kitchen had greasy and dirty walls and floors and the wash hand basins were either without hot water or were inaccessible.
On one occasion staff were found not wearing protective clothing, using dirty cloths to clean surfaces and risking food contamination in the way they prepared raw chicken.
The court heard that Environmental Health officers had contacted Gao several times regarding the condition of his premises and he had been given many opportunities to tackle the problems but had failed to act on their advice.
Gao admitted only visiting the premises for an hour or two every week.
The court decided he had been neglecting his responsibilities by not checking that staff he employed were keeping the kitchen clean and were following procedures for handling food hygienically.
Councillor Christine Martin, the council’s health and wellbeing portfolio leader, said: “Most of our restaurants are well run with good hygiene standards. It is rare for us to bring cases like this but China Garden has had a poor hygiene rating for a while.
“Those who have a history of poor hygiene and refuse to act on the advice of our officers cannot be allowed to trade without consequence. I would urge any food business that might be in difficulty to speak to our officers who will continue to offer free help and advice.”
The court heard how much of the restaurant’s business was through the app Just Eat.
