Cardiff chippy horror as maggot found crawling through kebab

A customer of a Cardiff chip shop was horrified to find a maggot in his kebab. Jack Pocock said he threw up after discovering the larva in his lamb doner having already started eating the meal from Gabalfa Fish Bar. A spokesman for Cardiff Council's shared regulatory services said it is carrying out "an active investigation" into the business on Gabalfa Avenue and could not comment further at this stage.

Shiraz Ahmed, who has owned the shop for two years, told WalesOnline he is sorry for the customer's experience and that it is unclear how the maggot got in the food. He insisted he had "never had a complaint" during a decade in the food industry and pointed to the business' five-star food hygiene rating. Mr Pocock, 22, said he and his girlfriend bought two lamb doners from the fish bar at around 8.



45pm last Friday and once home opened the paper bag and polystyrene boxes to begin their meal. After his girlfriend had finished her kebab and he was halfway through his, he found a maggot crawling through his lamb doner and lettuce. "We both had iffy bellies and threw up afterwards," he said.

His mother Sharon Pocock, 47, had only eaten a few mouthfuls of her own food from the takeaway, a sausage in batter and gravy tray, when her son's discovery prompted her to go to the shop and confront staff. "Their attitude was that the maggot may have jumped on the food on the way home," she said. "How can a maggot jump though polystyrene and a paper bag?" Ms Pocock received £25 after asking for a refund on the £24 order.

She made a report to the council's environmental health department and officers attended her home to collect the food for examination. "My decision to speak about it is in no way, shape or form for financial gain," she said. "People in the community need to be aware of what could be getting served up.

Everything I've had from the shop until Friday, I cannot knock them for, but my son could have eaten a maggot and not known about it. When you are in the food industry you have to double and treble-check everything." Gabalfa Fish Bar has an average rating of 4.

3 stars after 78 Google reviews. Mr Ahmed said: "Since we took over two years ago we've made tremendous improvements. The food hygiene rating has gone from one to five.

" He claimed the inspector who visited in the wake of Ms Pocock's complaint was impressed by the hygiene standards. But he admitted a "minor defect" was found in the potato-peeling room in the form of cracked floor tiles which could potentially harbour bacteria. "The surface in that room is not 100% flat, and there are heavy machines in there like the peeler and slicer, so you will see some tiny cracks," he added.

"Those tiny cracks hold some tiny water which could cause bacteria to come along. Now, that is true, it can happen, but I don't believe it was the cause of this incident. I believe it was not possible logistically because we only prepare potatoes in the back room and there were no potatoes in his meal.

We are waiting for our contractor to sort the floor out. "I can't 100% give you a guarantee on how it happened. It cannot be from the kebab itself, even if somehow there was a hypothetical contamination from the factory, because the heat would burn it out.

If it is not in the kebab it could be from the salad, but the way we prepare the salad is a very standard process and we have shown that to the inspector who showed up out of the blue. He was surprised and his comments were like: 'Yeah, it would be very difficult to say you are not doing it properly.'" Mr Ahmed also suggested the maggot could have gotten into the kebab after the customers left the takeaway.

This was vehemently rejected by Ms Pocock, who said the packaging was only opened when her son and his girlfriend got home. The shop owner added: "We would like to investigate why this has happened, if it has happened in our premises. I 100% feel the frustration of the customer and I do think: if I opened my kebab and saw that, how would I feel? I had businesses in England before and never had a single complaint.

I have been in the food industry for 10 years and I have been in hospitality for 20 years." In a Facebook statement the business said: "As evidence of our high standards, our takeaway remains fully open and operational, serving our valued customers as always. We appreciate your trust and support and remain committed to providing safe, high-quality food.

Thank you for choosing us!" Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here ..