West Wickham restaurant fined for skin and nail in salad (From News Shopper)

West Wickham restaurant fined for skin and nail in salad

5:31pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008

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A RESTAURANT has been fined after serving a salad containing skin and nail from the chef’s finger.

A customer was eating at Pizza Express in West Wickham High Street when she bit into something hard and chewy.

She removed it from her mouth and found something resembling a piece of human skin with part of a nail attached.

DNA testing linked the half-inch piece of skin to the restaurant’s chef, Nicalau Vandley, who had cut his finger while chopping red peppers two days before the salad was served on January 1 this year.

Pizza Express admitted selling food unfit for human consumption and was fined £7,500 at Bromley Magistrates’ Court today (December 3).

How exactly the skin ended up in the salad is not known.

John McDonald, mitigating, said: “One possibility is the skin may have become dislodged when bandaging the cut or on some subsequent occasion.

“It was not serious enough to take time off.

“It was clearly a regrettable incident and unpleasant for the customer.”

Mr McDonald added: “Since the accident the company has co-operated fully with the investigation and carried out a thorough review.

“The company has done its best to put the matter right and ensure this won't happen again.”

Prosecutor Sandra Hines said: “The chef had cut his finger while cutting red peppers and the matter found in the salad had originated from this incident.

“It was concluded that its presence in the food rendered it unfit for human consumption.

“It’s not known how the skin came to be present.

“If the correct procedures had been adhered to, the salad would not have been unfit for human consumption.”

Chairman of the Bench Paul Nash said: “We appreciate this is a serious offence but we don’t think it’s that serious that the full weight of the fine level should be imposed.”

Pizza Express was also ordered to pay costs of £5,108.45.

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