Kebab shop prepared 'high-risk' meat with paint brushes
Staff at Cappadocia in Ashford, Kent, were found to be using decorating tools to baste meat.
Kebab shop workers were found to be preparing food with paintbrushes during a routine hygiene inspection.
A council inspection revealed staff at Cappadocia in Ashford, Kent, had been using decorating tools to baste high-risk meat while serving out-of-date food to their customers. Additionally, inspectors discovered its freezer was mouldy and not being cleaned as required.
Council workers also found that the staff were not adequately trained to ensure the food was being cooked safely. As a result, the inspection determined the owners needed to take swift action to improve the restaurant's condition following the inspection on 10 January.
The owners were ordered to carry out a "deep clean" of the premises and ensure that it was cleaned daily to meet the required hygiene standards. Official Ashford Borough Council papers show inspectors also noted: “There is no measure to control shelf life of produce”.
List of problems at kebab house
The council inspection revealed several hygiene risks at Cappadocia Kebab House, including mould which was spotted on the seal of a chest freezer used to store unlabelled high-risk foods. Out-of-date food that had been used for orders, delivered by JustEat or Cappadocia’s own staff, was found in the fridges.
Some items had been left to defrost in the fridge for more than five days, with inspectors having to warn the takeaway it needed to dispose of unsafe food and keep produce within a safe temperature range. The inspectors also found fridge temperatures had not been correctly recorded.
In the ambient store, food items had been left open – with no protection from pests or rodents – with management being told to store opened ingredients in sealed containers. A lack of sanitiser meant food equipment and preparation surfaces could not be cleaned and there was no disinfectant to make food preparation safe from cross contaminations.
The floor in the kitchen had broken tiles and was wet due to a leaking boiler – a safety risk which cannot be effectively cleaned without repairs. That led to a “generally dirty” premises which could attract pests, according to the council’s report .
Cappadocia Kebab House was forced to close temporarily last October due to a lack of staff. At the time, owner Serkan Gungo said: “I was struggling to do everything myself, like serving customers, taking orders, making their drinks, serving their food and wiping the tables.
“I am better off doing deliveries as the costs have dropped as well as I pay less wages now and I am using Just Eat’s drivers.”
Inspectors said Gungor needed “to stop using the excuse of restaurant closing and start managing”.
How to find out a store's food rating
Food businesses are required to display their rating so customers can easily see it. If you want to know the hygiene rating of a food establishment in the UK, you can also easily check it on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.
Search for the food place by its name and location, and you'll see its hygiene rating along with a summary of the inspection report. You can also use the FSA's mobile app to find hygiene ratings of food businesses.
The hygiene ratings in the UK range from 0 to 5 and are based on how well a food business follows food hygiene and safety regulations. A rating of 5 is the highest, while a 0 means the business needs to make urgent improvements.
The ratings show how clean and safe the food is, including how it's handled, prepared, cooked, reheated, and cooled.
