A Newcastle takeaway was fined after failing food safety checks, leading to its closure and a hefty penalty for the owners
Newcastle: A couple running a Chinese takeaway called Spicy China found themselves in hot water after their place was shut down last September. They were fined big time for not following food safety rules.
Mr. Chi Kong Wong and Mrs. Kwan Yuk Wong, the husband-and-wife team behind the takeaway, had some serious hygiene issues. Delivery service Just Eat even dropped them because of it.
Things were pretty grim in the kitchen. Chopping boards were stored behind sinks, and raw meat was just sitting in unlabeled containers. The fridge seals were dirty, and the storage area looked like a disaster zone.
To make matters worse, food was stored in a way that could lead to cross-contamination. Allergens were mixed in with other ingredients, and the place was just plain dirty. They even found hair on food containers!
Environmental health officers had been checking in on them for years, and during a routine inspection in September 2023, they found things had really gone downhill.
Mr. and Mrs. Wong didn’t have any proper procedures in place to keep things safe. They both pleaded guilty to breaking food safety laws and ended up with fines totaling over £2,000 each.
In court, Mrs. Wong mentioned she had run takeaways for 30 years without any issues, so this was a real shock for her. They had tried to work with the council to keep things up to standard, but it just didn’t happen.
Things got worse when Mrs. Wong had to go back to Hong Kong to care for her sick mother. While she was away, the standards dropped, and customers started leaving, leading to the takeaway’s closure.
Now, a new business has taken over the premises. Coun Alex Hay from Newcastle City Council made it clear that they expect high standards from food businesses and won’t hesitate to take action when those standards are ignored.
He emphasized that the public deserves food that’s safe and prepared in a clean environment, and this case should serve as a warning to others in the food industry.
