Cambridge bakery prosecuted after customer finds cockroach in a hot drink

A Cambridge bakery has been prosecuted after a cockroach was found in a hot drink by a customer.

Hi Sweety, in Regent Street, was fined £6,473.18 by Cambridge magistrates after the prosecution was brought by the city council.

Environmental health officers made an unannounced visit on January 5 after being alerted by the member of the public and they found evidence of live and dead cockroaches, which can cause illness by contaminating food and surfaces.

The officers immediately closed the premises using emergency hygiene prohibition powers due to the imminent risk of harm to health.

The business carried out remedial works and, after further follow-up inspections in January this year, council officers found that there was no longer a risk to public health, meaning the premises were permitted to reopen.

Jingping Li, the food business operator and company director, and Dujuan Liu, the manager, pleaded guilty to four food hygiene offences on behalf of themselves and Hi Sweety, including:

• failure to register a food business
• failure to have in place adequate procedure to control pests
• failure to keep the food premises clean and in good repair; and
• failure to protect food against any contamination.

Cllr Rosy Moore, executive councillor for environment, climate change and biodiversity, said: “When businesses fall short of the standards we expect, we will always take speedy action to make sure we protect people’s health and wellbeing.

“Food businesses should always put public health at the very top of their list of priorities and, as in this case, we will work proactively to support any businesses where the standards are not up to scratch, to help them rectify the issues.

“I would always encourage patrons of local eateries to get in touch with our team with any concerns, just as the individual did who reported the cockroaches at this premises.

“I would also encourage people to check on any business’s food hygiene credentials, which you can do easily at ratings.food.gov.uk. We award a score of 0 to 5 (5 being the best), which reflects the standard of food hygiene at the time of the inspection.”