A Barking fishmonger that went viral after its employee was filmed slinging frozen fish in the gutter has been fined £10,500 after inspectors found dirty toilets and blood on the floor.
Hygiene inspectors who visited Moon Fish late last year also found a leaking sink and unhygienic conditions all over the premises.
The shop, in East Street, pleaded guilty to seven food hygiene offences at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, July 16.
Its Newham-based director also pleaded guilty to seven charges stating the hygiene breaches occurred with his "consent, connivance or neglect”.
The business went viral in October 2023 after a member of the public filmed shocking video of a worker smashing up frozen fish by lifting it above his head and hurling it at the kerb.
The footage spread across Barking, Havering and Ilford Facebook groups, prompting horrified viewers to label the practice “disgusting”, “nasty” and “vile”.
Barking and Dagenham Council warned the business, which had only registered with the council five months earlier, to expect its first hygiene inspection imminently.
The court charges reveal that when inspectors attended on October 24, 2023, they found “the food premises was not kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition”.
Raw fish was stored alongside cooked fish and “the floor behind the butcher counter at the premises had been covered by cardboard and there was blood on the floor of the premises".
Several other areas were “dirty”, the council said, including hand contact surfaces, freezer covers and under the chest freezers. On the shelves, there was “food spillage”.
"The WC pan and associated areas were dirty in the men's and ladies' toilets," the council added.
Two food handlers were found not to have received proper hygiene training.
The business was ordered to pay a £10,500 fine, plus £500 court costs and a £2,000 victim services surcharge (£13,000 in total).
Company director Nadeem Hashmat, 50, of Harold Road, Upton Park – who also runs a Halal meat company and a clothing business – was ordered to pay a £1,536 fine, £257.19 costs and a £614 victim surcharge – adding up to £2,407.19.
Councillor Syed Ghani, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, said: “Why anyone would think that this behaviour was okay is beyond me – the video was shocking.”
He added: “I hope the owners of this business have learned a valuable lesson regarding food safety and won’t allow anything like this to happen again.”
Visited by the Barking and Dagenham Post after the video went viral, a staff member claimed the man smashing fish in the gutter had been a new recruit, who had already been fired for his actions.
Staff said they would pass our reporter’s contact details to management – but they chose never to contact us.
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