Inverness take-away fined for food safety offence

The owner of The Spice Malabar, 32A Church Street, Inverness has been fined £695 at the Sheriff Court, Inverness for failing to comply with food hygiene requirements.

Mr Ashraf Veettil pleaded guilty to operating the food business without a food safety management system. A non-guilty plea was accepted by the Sheriff for failing to ensure that the premises were kept clean and protected against pests.

This case followed an investigation by The Highland Council Environmental Health Service back in December 2007, when officers uncovered a series of food hygiene problems including the operation of a dirty kitchen and an infestation of rats. These conditions led officers to serve notice on Mr. Veettil to immediately close the premises. 

Patricia Sheldon, Environmental Health Officer with The Highland Council said: “In this case we decided to submit a report to the Procurator Fiscal due to the poor hygiene standards and a failure by the owner to ensure the safety of the food operation.”   

Alistair Thomson, the Council’s Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards said: “The vast majority of food businesses in the Highlands comply with Food Safety requirements. We would be failing in our duty to them and the general public if we did not take swift and effective action where there is reckless disregard for food safety. In appropriate cases we will also report the matter to the procurator fiscal.”

Al the Council’s Environmental Health inspection reports for Highland businesses and premises are available here.