The owner of a Tamworth takeaway has apologised to the people of the town after being convicted of eight food hygiene offences - and has made a raft of dramatic changes to 'gain your respect again'.

Da Liu, of Rainbow Cantonese, in Church Street, was fined a total of £2,130, for various breaches of Food Safety & Hygiene (England) Regulations, during a hearing at Newcastle under Lyme Magistrates Court, on December 4.

The owner has since come forward to apologise for to his customers, has stated the reasons why it was in such an unhygienic state and also explained the changes he has made to improve the takeaway.

The owner of a Tamworth takeaway has apologised for failures in food hygiene
The owner of a Tamworth takeaway has apologised for failures in food hygiene

Da said: “We deeply regret these circumstances and can ensure our customer's safety.

“Here are some reasons why as we weren't here over the times of inspection, with the birth of our daughter and devastating news of cancer within the family.

“Our staff and inspectors struggled with a language barrier, there was a misunderstanding between the staff and the inspectors despite hygiene training given and although we maintain and clean the whole building thoroughly, it's 120 years old.

“For years we've progressed to a three star rating and our practises haven't relaxed. This shows we have the ability and knowledge to practise good hygiene

Da Liu has made a series of changes and improvements to his takeaway since pleading guilty to eight food hygiene offences
Da Liu has made a series of changes and improvements to his takeaway since pleading guilty to eight food hygiene offences

“We were unaware of how strict inspections had suddenly become. We would not have ignored the information if we had.

“Only for this time did we become distracted and allow this to tarnish our reputation.

“We would like to thank our loyal customers of 30 years and hope to gain your respect again through our continuous progress!”

According to Da, the Chinese has made several efforts to improve following the inspection and said they had now passed a food hygiene inspection and were at an acceptable standard.

Kitchen staff are now fully trained and have passed the food safety course level 2.

Rainbow Cantonese has passed a recent food hygiene inspection which is dated from November 2017
Rainbow Cantonese has passed a recent food hygiene inspection which is dated from November 2017

They have also switched their pest control to Rentokill and many refurbishments have been made throughout the Tamworth premises to make cooking and cleaning as easy as possible and sufficient safety regulations have been enforced by staff.

Da said: “We are one of the oldest takeaways in Tamworth and the first to offer a delivery service. If the quality of our food and procedures were that poor how would we have stayed open for so long?

“This does not excuse our behaviour, we are very sorry and wanted the opportunity to explain.”

The case was brought by Tamworth Borough Council as a result of failures identified between September 2016 and July 2017.

Mr Liu faced eight charges including failing to satisfy hygiene requirements, failing to keep the premises clean and failing to prevent the risk of contamination of food, with high risk foods such as rice being left out of temperature control.

A number of contraventions of food hygiene were noted during a routine inspection by Environmental Health Officers in September 2016 and legal notices were served requiring improvement.

During the court proceedings, Mr Liu pleaded guilty to failing to comply with regulations, daily checks not being recorded on a daily basis, the food registration for the premises not being under the correct name, failing to comply with General Hygiene Requirements and failing to keep the premises clean.

Mr Liu also pleaded guilty to risk of contamination to food, failing to control pests and not having adequate procedures in place to reduce the risk of the reproduction of pathogenic micro-organisms.

During their investigations, officers determined that Rainbow Cantonese also produced food for the adjoining business China Palace, at 70 Church Street.

As a result, the same charges were brought against Mrs Yan Hu as owner of China Palace and for her role as stand-in manager at the Rainbow Cantonese.

Proceedings against Mrs Hu were withdrawn after she signed a Simple Caution issued by Tamworth Borough Council and agreed to pay costs of £1,600.

The owner of Rainbow Cantonese in Church Street has been prosecuted
The owner of Rainbow Cantonese in Church Street has been prosecuted

Cllr Joy Goodall, Tamworth Borough Council’s cabinet member for environment and culture, said: “All food premises in Tamworth are inspected on a regular basis by officers from the Environmental Health team.

"They do everything they can to work with businesses to ensure they are working to the standards required by regulations.

“While prosecution is a last resort, we will take appropriate action where necessary.

“In this case, notices to improve had not been complied with and we were left with no choice but to seek prosecution. We will continue to monitor this business going forward.”

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