Idris Jasat, owner of IKY’s Pizza and Balti House takeaway in Lancaster, has been ordered to pay a total of £865 after pleading guilty to serving a chicken curry containing a fragment of copper wire approximately 16mm long.
Jasat pleaded guilty at Lancaster Magistrates Court on Friday 6th August and was fined £350, plus costs of £500 and a £15 victim surcharge.
The curry meal was delivered to a customer living in Morecambe from the St Leonard Gate-based takeaway on 27th October 2009. The customer contacted Lancaster City Council’s Environmental Health Service, who investigated the matter and found the piece of metal came from a make-shift handle from a pizza oven.
“This was a very serious incident which could have had devastating consequences,” says Coun David Kerr, Cabinet member with responsibility for environmental health.
“I hope this case sends a clear message to food businesses that serving contaminated foods is an offence under the food hygiene legislation and that action will be taken if any business is caught breaking the law.”
Over the last year, the city council’s food safety team visited 692 catering premises, from corner shops to large food manufacturers, and dealt with 89 food complaints and 41 complaints about premises.
• Lancaster City Council’s Environmental Health Service
• Online food hygiene Inspection reports are currently not available pending consideration of the introduction of the Food Standards Agency national “Scores on the Doors” scheme.