One of the "worst ever" food hygiene cases has been uncovered by inspectors at a cockroach-infested kebab house in Swindon.
Swindon Borough Council (SBC) have shared shocking pictures of cockroaches taken by environmental health officers when they visited Baban Restaurant and Takeaway last week, Wiltshire Live reported.
A council spokesperson described the disgusting scene as "one of the worst cockroach infestations" their food hygiene officers had ever seen, adding that there were so many that they were forced to ask for extra evidence bags.
"Oriental cockroaches were found inside and on top of the chest freezer, while they were even discovered inside takeaway containers, which were ready to be used for customers," they said.
"Cockroaches were also visible on chairs and under the tables of the customer seating area as well as in the drainage tray in the front counter chiller where uncovered ready-to-eat foods such as cut lettuce, onion, red cabbage, lemons and jalapenos were ready to be served to customers.
"Live cockroaches were found in a large open bag of dried red lentils, which were on a trolley next to the hot water boiler. Underneath, more than 100 dead and alive insects were found.
"There were so many cockroaches, officers had to request additional evidence bags."
After hearing the evidence on Thursday (April 28), a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order was issued by magistrates allowing Swindon council to keep the restaurant shut until officers are satisfied that the safety of customers can be met.
The business will have to apply in writing to reopen and the business owner Jamal Majed was ordered to pay the council’s costs of £2,053.
Despite the horrific levels of hygiene at Baban in Swindon, it was even worse for one unlucky man in China in November last year.
The disgusted diner found a cockroach at the bottom of his son’s bowl of food after he had finished eating at a restaurant in China.
Then when the unnamed man confronted staff at the restaurant in Xuzhou, in the eastern province of Jiangsu in China, the bowl was snatched away from him.
He was even dared to call the police if he really wanted to claim there was a cockroach in the meal, it is reported.
Footage of the cockroach in the bowl went viral on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, where people talked of their horror at the lack of hygiene.
The man had been dining out at the restaurant with his son when the incident occurred, reported Baidu.
