Sandwich boss fined over hygiene standards at firm
A businessman who ran a Sandwell sandwich-making company has been ordered to pay £13,000 in fines and costs after admitting food hygiene offences.
Manpreet Singh Dosanjh received a six-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to 15 charges relating to the cleanliness of the premises and other food hygiene issues.
Dosanjh, whose Tividale-based business was at one point producing up to 3,000 sandwiches a day, was also disqualified from being a director of a company for five years. An order banning him from running a food business remains in place.
The court heard that Dosanjh, of Wellington Road, Bilston, initially ran Fresh Bites as proprietor before he made the business into a limited company, Fresh Bite Sandwiches Ltd, of which he was sole director.
The business in Dudley Road West produces pre-packed sandwiches that are then distributed nationally for sale.
Seven of the charges were heard in August by magistrates, who referred the case to crown court for sentencing following Dosanjh's guilty pleas.
Meanwhile, Dosanjh was charged with eight other offences.
Dosanjh, aged 25, admitted all 15 offences in court on December 2. Charges included failing to keep the food business clean and failing to provide hygienic hand-drying facilities and adequate changing facilities for staff.
Other offences included failing to protect food from contamination and having inadequate provision for storage and disposal of waste.
He also admitted failing to provide environmental health officers with information and assistance as required by them to carry out their duties.
The court fined him £8,000 in total for failing to have permanent procedures relating to food hygiene principles between December 2014 and August 2016.
The court also ordered him to pay £5,000 costs plus a £120 victim's surcharge.
Councillor Preet Gill, Sandwell Council's cabinet member for public health and protection, said: "We welcome the sentence for these offences because it is so important that people are fully protected against unhygienic food practices.
"Our environmental health officers worked tirelessly with Mr Dosanjh to try to improve standards. However, he repeatedly failed to implement and maintain adequate systems for stock control, waste, cleaning and contamination risks.
"The council was therefore left with no choice but to take action on these failures."
