Indian buffet restaurant shuts after 'rat droppings and gnawed food' found
A popular Indian buffet restaurant has shut down after health inspectors found rat droppings and chewed-up food.
The Tawa Indian Buffet in Newport closed on December 14 because of the grim discovery. A notice stuck on the door said the place was a health risk because of rats in the kitchen, dining area, bar, and storeroom.
It said: "Evidence of an infestation of rats was found in the kitchen, dining area, bar and store room of the premises. Rat droppings were found on equipment and food products were gnawed. This presents an imminent risk to health to any consumers of food stored, prepared and served from the premises."
Under Food Hygiene rules, the council can tell businesses to shut down. The restaurant told its customers on Facebook that it's closed for now because of "unforeseen circumstances". They said: "To all customers. Important notice. Unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances, we had to close the restaurant for some time. We will keep you updated with a reopening date ASAP. Please bear with us and accept our apologies for any bookings for the coming week.
"It is our aim to reopen as soon as possible, however, there's no fix date at this time. We will be keeping you up to date on here. If you have any queries/ questions about any bookings you made please be patient as we are trying to reply to everyone affected. Once again, this was not an easy decision in this current period, and the management extends their apologies to all the customers affected once again. Thank you."
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A spokesperson for Newport City Council said: "Officers from the council's environmental health team carried out an inspection of the premises at Tawa last Thursday. During the inspection, officers found evidence of an active rat infestation at the premises, along with contaminated food, and large quantities of meat past its use-by date. The extent of the infestation, and its potential risk to public health, was deemed notable enough for officers to close the premises with immediate effect.
"A court has granted an emergency prohibition order this morning against Seven Stiles Spice Ltd, the owner and operator of Tawa Indian Buffet. This will mean the business will stay closed until further notice. The food business operator will be given time to rectify the issues found during the inspection, and the council will provide guidance and support to help them do this. They will then be re- inspected by our officers to ensure they have fully complied with the requirements before being allowed to reopen.
"Food hygiene legislation is a key part of our integrated health protection system. It is in place to ensure businesses operate in a safe manner, avoid causing ill health, and avoid placing unnecessary burden on the NHS. The responsibility to maintain proper food hygiene standards falls squarely on the shoulders of the food business operator. The council will not hesitate to take action against any operator found to be in breach of the necessary standards and where the public health has been put at risk."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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