£18,000 Fine for Filthy Ealing Noodle Bar |
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Second prosecution for town centre restaurant
Andy Ly, 42, owner of Coco Noodle Bar, 70 The Mall, Ealing, pleaded guilty to six hygiene related offences at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 7 January. He was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay £3,695.95 towards the council’s court costs, totalling £21,695.95. A council food hygiene officer, part of the Regulatory Services team, inspected the premises in June 2009. It was revealed that there were no food safety management systems in place and a number of poor food hygiene practices including: • storage of frozen food likely to cause contamination and cross-contamination The court heard that officers had previously inspected the restaurant in 2006, when conditions of gross contamination were discovered, including a serious rat infestation in the kitchen. Ly was prosecuted in 2007 and fined £10,000 plus costs. During that time the restaurant also had to be closed for two days while the kitchen was cleaned up. Councillor Vlod Barchuk, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, said: “They clearly didn’t learn from their first trip to court so I sincerely hope they take heed this time round. I’m glad the courts have recognised how serious this is and served up such a large fine. “We simply will not tolerate the safety of residents being put at risk and we will be keeping a close eye on the restaurant to make sure they remain fully compliant with hygiene laws,. “The noodle bar is walking a thin line now. If they are convicted again we will seriously consider making an application to the courts and Mr Ly could face a ban from running a food business in the future.” The council prosecuted the restaurant under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006. Coco Noodle Bar has since made satisfactory improvements.
January 12th, 2010
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