Birmingham restaurant fined £50,000 over wooden serving boards

[MenInG]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=twitter

A restaurant has been fined £50,000 by magistrates for serving food on "unhygienic" wooden boards.

Birmingham City Council says the wooden plates, used by Ibrahim's Grill and Steak House in Acocks Green, pose a risk of food poisoning.

Inspectors visited the restaurant in October 2016 and had a number of concerns about cleanliness.

And though improvements were made, on a return visit two months later, they found the boards were still in use.

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At Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday, the restaurant admitted that by continuing to use the wooden plates it had failed to comply with a hygiene improvement notice.

Inspectors were first called to the restaurant on Warwick Road after an alleged food poisoning outbreak that affected a party of 14.

The council said inspectors found a number of issues of concern, including a reliance on the use of disposable gloves rather than hand washing.

The restaurant was first visited by the council in October 2016 and on a return visit in December of that year, inspectors found the wooden plates were still in use

It also said the cleaning of the premises was poor and sanitising chemicals were not being used in line with manufacturer instructions.

The council says the boards used to serve the food were "incapable" of being cleaned.

As well as the fine, the restaurant must pay £670 costs and £120 victim surcharge.

Mark Croxford, head of environmental health at the council, said "It is completely unacceptable for businesses to put the health of people eating at their restaurants at risk."

When contacted by the BBC, the restaurant said it did not wish to comment at this stage.

 

[MenInG]

I always worry about eating in these desi places - Has Birmingham got a lot of these types of places?

 

[Haz95]

I always worry about eating in these desi places - Has Birmingham got a lot of these types of places?

Birmingham has got countless number of restaurants, particularly steak houses which specialise in grilled food and thus food served on wooden plates. You just have to be a picky customer to get good service and to make it look like you know what you're talking about when it comes to food lol. From visits to restaurants, I'd say you'd want to be careful with their plates and cutlery generally because they do tend be cleaned poorly with visible stains and whatnot.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I always worry about eating in these desi places - Has Birmingham got a lot of these types of places?

Desi places generally are more hygenic.

The place was fined heavily as it did not take note of the previous warning.

 

[Bewal Express]

I have eaten at many of the places and i have never ever had any problems. The same cannot be said after being at weddings and having the dishes.

 

[shaz619]

Desi places generally are more hygenic.

The place was fined heavily as it did not take note of the previous warning.

I've been here before it's a good steakhouse with a decent rep in the city, I got a chicken parmesan a while back but it wasn't on a wooden plate. I think so long your cutlery is clean it should be all good regardless of the material being used, many places around the city tend to use wood but they probably will stop after this

 

[KingKhanWC]

I've been here before it's a good steakhouse with a decent rep in the city, I got a chicken parmesan a while back but it wasn't on a wooden plate. I think so long your cutlery is clean it should be all good regardless of the material being used, many places around the city tend to use wood but they probably will stop after this

Yep, pretty much every mixed grill is served on a wooden plate. I cant imagine it was the wood but perhaps the wooden plates were dirty. Ive never worked in a kitchen but I would guess wooden plates are harder to clean?

 

[shaz619]

Yep, pretty much every mixed grill is served on a wooden plate. I cant imagine it was the wood but perhaps the wooden plates were dirty. Ive never worked in a kitchen but I would guess wooden plates are harder to clean?

I have worked in one before but never had to deal with wood, but just washing the usual spoons at home it seems that no matter how hard you try there always seems to be a mark which don't come off maybe you have experienced it as well; I imagine you're probably right they could be more challenging to clean off or even when they are clean they give the impression that they are not due to the marks unlike on ceramics

 

[miandadrules]

Desi places generally are more hygenic.

The place was fined heavily as it did not take note of the previous warning.

That's a bit of blanket statement.

Care to share how you came to such a conclusion of desi places being more hygienic?

 

[Yossarian]

Unless the wooden plates are treated and then coated with something (which will cause problems of its own considering hot food will be placed on it, and steak knives scratching it and breaking through to the chemically treated wood underneath), then the wood is liable to absorb the oils/grease from the hot food. Short of scraping off the top surface (like a butcher does with his chopping block), the absorbed oils/grease will become breeding ground for all sorts of nasties.

 

[in_cutter]

The issue is that if there are cracks in the wood, food will become lodged in those cracks & become a breeding ground for bacteria and bugs.

They were given a warning but clearly did nothing about it.