Wednesday, 12:30pm - Kentucky Fried Chicken Ltd has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,355.37 costs after pleading guilty to four charges of breaching food hygiene regulations in relation to their branch in Boston's Market Place.
Kentucky Fried Chicken Ltd has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,355.37 costs after pleading guilty to four charges of breaching food hygiene regulations in relation to their branch in Boston's Market Place.
The prosecution was brought by B
oston Borough Council following hygiene inspections at the restaurant in August 2007 and April 21, 2008.
The company, based in Surrey, admitted that on August 3, 2007, being a food business operator, they failed to comply with food hygiene regulations in that the food premises were not kept clean.
They also admitted that on the same date, ceramic floor tiles in the preparation area were not maintained in a sound condition.
District Judge Richard Blake, sitting at Skegness Magistrates Court, fined the company £2,000 on each of those charges.
The company also admitted that on August 7, 2007 the food premises were not kept clean. They were fined £3,500 for that offence.
KFC admitted a similar offence on April 21, 2008. Judge Blake fined the company £4,500 for that matter and ordered them to pay the prosecution costs of £3,355.37 and a £15 surcharge.
Following the guilty pleas to those charges no evidence was offered on eight other matters relating to the same dates. Those proceedings were withdrawn.
Mrs Anne Heard, prosecuting, told the court that on August 3 last year the council's environmental health officer carried out a routine food safety inspection at KFC in Market Place, Boston.
Photographs were taken, which related to the first two charges faced by the company.
The pictures showed a greasy floor, the door handle to the walk-in chiller was dirty, with encrusted dry dough food debris. The racking in the chiller was dirty and there were dirty tiles and a build up of dirt and grime on the flooring.
The wash hand basin and soap dispenser were dirty with food debris stuck to the tap.
In an area under the wash up sink was a piece of corn on the cob and an accumulation of grease and debris. A child's high chair had food on the seat, said Mrs Heard.
Following the inspection the council's environmental health officer contacted KFC's area manager asking to meet at the site on August 7 to discuss the matters.
A further inspection on that date showed little effort had been made to clean the premises since the inspection four days earlier. The premises were still dirty and the piece of corn on the cob was still under the wash up sink, said Mrs Heard.
The company's head office was written to on August 8 and a further inspection on August 10 showed a considerable improvement in the cleanliness of the premises.
On April 21 this year, following a complaint by a customer about the conditions at the premises, the environmental health officer carried out a further inspection.
The conditions had deteriorated and the inspection showed a lack of cleanliness to floors and walls and food debris on a child's high chair.
Mr David Whiting, representing KFC, said that the company fully accepted that these conditions were not acceptable and that on these three occasions the premises had not been kept clean, contravening legislation and the company's own high standards.
The offences did not relate to the cleanliness of equipment or surfaces which food came into contact with, said Mr Whiting.
There was no suggestion of product contamination. The offences related mainly to the floor under things, not anywhere open food would come into contact with. There was also no pest activity, he said.
There were a whole set of policies, training procedures and cleaning rotas to ensure these sorts of offences did not happen, said Mr Whiting
All staff were trained. It was down to the restaurant management to oversee that procedures were put unto practise. The company had to accept responsibility for the managers they had put in place, he said.
Since these offences KFC had decided the restaurant would be offered to a franchisee local to the area.
Mr Bimal Vyas, a very experienced manager, was now in the Market Place restaurant in Boston. He had worked 25 years with KFC as a franchised business manager before becoming a franchisee.
He had three other franchises in East Anglia and all his premises were very highly rated by environmental health departments.
From November 2 he had been providing the management for the Boston restaurant and was expected to take over the business in February when he planned a £100,000 re-fit of the premises, said Mr Whiting.
A spokesman for KFC said: "Hygiene is of the utmost importance to KFC and this court case relates to historical issues when the store was experiencing staffing and management problems.
"We have since not only introduced new management but also sold the store to one of our franchisees who has continued to address any issues and we are satisfied the restaurant has returned to our usual high standards. The franchisee will also be making a significant investment in the store in early 2009 which will include a complete refurbishment of the entire restaurant."
