Burger restaurant prosecuted for breach of food safety regulations
A burger restaurant’s operator has been prosecuted for failing to register as a food business as required by food safety and hygiene regulations.
St Albans City and District Council‘s environmental health team launched an investigation into Total Cow, High Street, Redbourn, after a customer complaint.
Enquiries revealed the business was not registered and Craig Pesch, the operator, was interviewed about the issue.
A decision was later taken to prosecute and issue a court summons after Mr Pesch failed to agree to a caution.
Mr Pesch admitted the offence of failing to register at a hearing at St Albans Magistrates Court on Wednesday 21 May.
He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £26 and a contribution of £500 to the Council’s legal costs.
Mr Pesch, in mitigation, apologised and said he had wrongly believed he was not required to register because he had registered a similar business in Hemel Hempstead.
Councillor Terrie Smith, Lead for Environmental Enforcement, said after the hearing:
Registering helps the Council keep an up-to-date list of all food businesses and plan hygiene inspections properly. It’s an important part of making sure food is safe and public health is protected.
We work closely with food and drink businesses across the District to help them follow all the right safety and hygiene rules.
Most businesses do a great job, and when there are issues, we usually sort them out by talking things through.
But in this case, our environmental health team faced some pushback and felt they had no choice but to take legal action.
This just goes to show that if a business ignores the rule - like failing to register - we will step in and take action if needed.
The Environmental Health team offer a mentoring service, tailored to meet a business’s specific requirements and help it achieve the highest food safety standards. You can find out more here or enquire by emailing fhrs@stalbans.gov.uk.
Contact for the media: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer, 01727 819533, john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.