Worktops caked in grease, unrefrigerated tomato sauce, pizza bases covered in a bin bag and staff who were “clearly not washing their hands” before preparing food. These were the shocking conditions inside a Newcastle takeaway. As well as “filthy” work surfaces and equipment, inspectors found a broken window and damaged ceiling at Yummies on Newgate Street in the city centre. Environmental health officers said the takeaway was not safe to open when they visited on March 9 this year to carry out a food hygiene inspection. A court heard that after the inspection Yummies was immediately deep cleaned and now has a four-star hygiene rating. Now owner Kemal Guclu has been fined more than £5,000 for the 11 breaches of food safety regulations in March. Guclu, 61, of Baltic Quay, pleaded guilty to the offences, despite saying at the time he was still in the process of buying the business and had no role in the day to day running of the takeaway. Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard that inspectors visited the shop in March and saw straight away that “the standard of cleanliness was extremely poor”. Their findings included: Almost every surface” was covered in a layer of dirt and grease Filthy plastic storage containers containing dry ingredients A damaged plastic storage bin used to store flour for pizza bases Hand wash basins were completely dry and used to store soap and dirty cloth A fridge with containers of tomato sauce used on pizza bases was not switched on Pizza… [Read full story]
Leave a Reply