THE owners of an Indian restaurant in York have been fined £3,500 after inspectors found mouldy food and faulty equipment during a spot check.

City of York Council said The Mogul’s approach to food safety had “breached public trust” and they would have forced the Tanner Row restaurant to shut down if the owners had not agreed a temporary closure.

Inspectors discovered a broken fridge and mouldy chicken tikka masala, sour cream, onions and tomato puree during their unannounced evening inspection as customers tucked into their meals.

As well as the fine, the company must pay £789.45 in legal costs after admitting six breaches of food hygiene legislation at York Magistrates’ Court.

These included placing unsafe food on the market and failing to keep the premises and equipment clean and disinfected, following their visit in March last year.

Syed Miah, the secretary of Mogul Bengali Cuisine Ltd, who was responsible for the day-to-day running of the restaurant at the time, has previously also been prosecuted individually by the council for the same six offences. He was fined £600 and ordered to pay £600 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

“Of most concern during the inspection was a walk-in fridge which had broken down and was not maintaining the temperatures needed to store food,” Sean Suckling, the council’s food and safety unit manager, told the court.

“A variety of food in the fridge was covered in mould. It had the potential to contaminate other food and was clearly unfit for consumption, and as the restaurant was open at the time, the assumption is that it was for sale.”

Julian Tanikal, representing the company, said Mr Miah had been attending to family matters at the time of the breaches and “admitted he had not been paying as much attention to the business as necessary”.

“He placed reliance upon others and I understand those others have now been removed.

“He is in day-to-day charge and things have improved, with a number of changes being made very quickly,” he said.

“The owners are very upset that this happened as they have spent a considerable number of years in the industry, but in this case they appear to have taken their eye off the ball. However, Mr Miah has said none of the food in the fridge was to be used that night.”

Case ‘sends out strong message’

CITY of York Council said the fine sent “a strong message” about the need to obey food hygiene laws.

“We try to work closely with food businesses to help them comply with the law and adopt best practice,” said Anna Carson, senior environmental health officer at the authority.

“However, where a business fails to implement and maintain some of the most basic food safety requirements, such as cleaning and keeping foods at correct temperatures, we are left with no choice but to take enforcement action. We only prosecute as a last resort where businesses have failed to act on previous advice and guidance or where we find serious food safety issues.

“This case sends out a strong message to businesses that acceptable standards must be maintained at all times. It should also act as a warning to people thinking of running a food premises, who might not be aware of what’s involved.”