A school meals provider has been handed a £18,230 court bill for filthy premises after an investigation by South Holland District Council officers.
Food 4 Thought GB Ltd has been fined £13,800 and ordered to pay £4,300 costs after magistrates heard about the conditions at the unit where meals were prepared.
Boston magistrates heard on Monday, March 24, that Food 4 Thought admitted 12 different food hygiene charges involving:
- raw meat being stored next to cooked ready-to-eat ham
- dirty cups being supplied to a school
- dirty plastic bowls and colanders
- dirty and mould-stained cutting boards
- dirty floors
- flaking paint and dirty walls
- dirty cleaning cloths
- inadequate labelling of food.
South Holland District Council officers investigated a complaint about the cleanliness of equipment supplied to a school in the district. An alert was sent to environmental health officers at Boston Borough Council who visited Food 4 Thought’s premises at Boston Trade Park, Norfolk Street in Boston.
A visit to the unit on October 4 last year found poor standards of hygiene, controls and management. The company’s Caroline Clark and Moira Clark agreed that the standards were not acceptable for premises producing food for vulnerable schoolchildren and agreed to deep clean the premises over the weekend.
A re-inspection was undertaken on October 8 and, although a deep clean had been carried out, there were still outstanding detailed cleaning issues to be addressed before the premises could be considered to be of an acceptable standard.
Magistrates expressed surprise that someone with even a basic knowledge of food hygiene had not identified issues before the visit. The business had operated as a school meal supplier from the same site since 2006.
Magistrates reduced the potential fine by 30 per cent in recognition of the guilty pleas. A victim surcharge of £130 was also made.
After the hearing, Cllr Malcolm Chandler, South Holland District Council’s portfolio holder for environmental health, said: “Officers from our food, health and safety team take seriously their responsibilities in protecting the public and ensuring good standards of food hygiene are maintained.
“We work very closely with businesses to raise and maintain standards. We work in partnership with neighbouring authorities and agencies to ensure that geographical boundaries are not an obstacle.
“The business in question supplies a number of school meals within South Holland District Council’s area and I believe the public, and in particular parents, will be assured by the action taken.”
Anyone wanting to report an issue in South Holland for investigation should contact the district council’s food, health and safety team on 01775 761161.
