Food Safety

The premises of the company, based in Luton, was flooded with raw sewage and sandwich wrappers were discovered on the floor in the effluent.

Structural defects in the premises meant food was exposed to contamination from splintering wood and crumbling plaster. Equipment and surfaces were dirty. Encrusted food remains were splashed up the walls and dirty liquid had formed pools on the preparation benches. Containers of mouldy, putrefying sandwich fillings were found, along with mouldy filled rolls.

The firm made up to 350 sandwiches and 60 filled rolls a day for garages in the South-East.

EHOs immediately closed the premises. Luton magistrates said the business posed ‘a very grave risk to the public’.

The company did not attend the hearing nor enter a plea but was found guilty of 11 food hygiene offences. The court imposed maximum fines totalling £55,000, and ordered the company to pay Luton Council’s £2,280 costs.

The portfolio holder for environmental health and consumer protection, said: ‘Food businesses that choose to ignore basic hygiene rules are putting the health of innocent customers at serious risk. They will not be tolerated in Luton and we will always take action to stop them.’

The company is now trading from a new location in Middlesex.