Kamu Street food, a Sri Lankan vendor with an ongoing kitchen residency at Leyton’s Coach & Horses pub, was also made to pay over £2,500 in costs at Thames Magistrates Court, reports Marco Marcelline
A street food vendor with a residency at a popular Leyton pub was fined £2,464 after food hygiene inspectors uncovered a “severe” rat, cockroach, and mouse infestation in their kitchen.
Kamu Streetfood, a Sri Lankan vendor which operates at Leyton’s Coach & Horses pub, was also made to pay over £2,256 in costs following a July hearing at Thames Magistrates Court.
The eatery was found to have failed to “put in place adequate procedures to control pests” to combat the infestation.
As we reported back in December, Kamu was handed a zero-out-of-five rating by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), with inspectors declaring a need for “major improvement” in both hygienic food handling and cleanliness and condition of facilities. Urgent improvement was necessary in regards to KAMU’s management of food safety.
Its host The Coach & Horses was also slapped with the minimum rating during an inspection on 7th November. While its hygienic food handling was deemed to be “generally satisfactory”, it was found to be needing major improvement in cleanliness of its facilities and urgent improvement was needed in the management of food safety standards.
Since those inspections, Kamu and the Coach and Horses have both been judged by the FSA to have cleaned up their act, with a 13th August inspection seeing them respectively handed a four-out-of-five rating, which corresponds to “good”.
In those latest ratings the FSA judged their management of food safety to be “generally satisfactory” while cleanliness and condition of facilities, and hygienic food handling were both rated “good”.
Kamu’s food hygiene issues weren’t solely limited to its Leyton operation, however. According to a May report in the Watford Observer, the Sri-Lankan eatery’s Watford branch received the worst possible score of zero on an FSA visit.
Major issues were found in all aspects of the eatery’s operation; in its food handling, cleanliness, and condition of facilities and building, as well as management of food.
Kamu’s owner reportedly tried to submit an appeal over the rating but failed.
In a reinspection on 12th July, the Watford restaurant received a “generally satisfactory” three-out-of-five score.
In addition to its own Watford store, and its operation at the Coach and Horses, Kamu also serves food at The Lord Raglan in Walthamstow, and The Blenheim pub in Epsom.
Despite unpleasant run-ins with food hygiene enforcement officers, Kamu’s operation at The Coach has received glowing reviews from some.
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In August, local culture blog Leytonstoner, remarked that the food, which includes Sri Lankan classics like kottu, and lamprais, was “sensational”. In addition to praising the “low” prices, food critic Stephen Emms complimented the “huge and filling” plates on offer.
Both Kamu and the Coach and Horses did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In addition to Kamu, three other food companies in the borough were slapped with fines in July. These included Five Star Food Distribution Ltd, who’s director Zaheer Abbas pled guilty to two food hygiene charges and was ordered to pay a huge £11,306 combined fine and an additional £2,515 in costs.
Council environmental health officers noted that food packaging at the company’s Blackhorse Lane warehouse had been “gnawed by mice” and was “covered in mouse droppings” during an inspection on Tuesday 25th October 2022.
Meanwhile, East 10 Pub Co Limited was also hit with a fine of £862 plus costs of £2,256 for food hygiene issues.
Leyton’s China House Supermarket and its director Chunsheng Wu were hit with £2,404 in fines on top of costs of £2,482 for a “failure to keep the premises clean and in good repair”. Wu was also formally prohibited from participating in the management of any food business.
Khevyn Limbajee, Waltham Forest’s cabinet member for community safety, said: “These outcomes have been a long time in the making and send the message that poor hygiene standards will not be tolerated in Waltham Forest.”
Cllr Limbajee continued: “It beggars belief that food businesses – the operators whose livelihoods depend on their reputation – would let active pest infestations go unchecked at their premises. They have found out the hard way that we will take all necessary action to protect our residents.”
He added: “I’d like to thank our Environmental Health Officers for their hard work and encourage diners to use the Food Standards Agency’s online tool to see the hygiene ratings of any restaurant, takeaway, or food business before they eat and reduce the chances of becoming ill. Food poisoning can be extremely serious – even fatal – and our food safety teams play a vital role in keeping consumers protected.”
In July, Waltham Forest was found to have the worst average food hygiene rating than any other local authority in the UK.
London’s average food hygiene rating was 4.36, significantly higher than Waltham Forest’s rating of 3.74.
Joining Waltham Forest in the bottom three for average food hygiene ratings in the capital were Barking and Dagenham (3.95) , and Ealing (3.92).
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