A noodle restaurant in the Bedfordshire town of Luton has received a hefty fine after it was found to have seriously breached food hygiene regulations.
Inspecting the How Cha Noodle Bar in July this year following a complaint from a customer about rodents, environmental health officers found evidence of a large rat infestation. The restaurant had no pest control measures in place, and there was also evidence of dirty equipment, utensils and food preparation areas. Another serious issue involved food not being properly protected from contamination. The noodle bar was immediately closed for the safety of the public.
In a follow-up inspection, the council’s food safety team found that the rodent problem had been cleared up but other food hygiene issues were still evident. Due to a lack of proper food hygiene training, staff were displaying poor food handling practises, neglecting hand-washing and had poor personal hygiene. There were also problems with the restaurant’s food safety management and temperature control systems.
After pleading guilty to these charges, amounting to a total of seven food hygiene offences, the How Cha’s owners were fined £9,380 and ordered to pay £1,800 in court costs.