A Barking fishmonger has been told to expect an “imminent” hygiene inspection after a “disgusting” video appears to show an employee smashing up frozen fish on the pavement.
Barking and Dagenham Council said it had acted “immediately” after a member of the public captured the shocking footage, which has been viewed thousands of times on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.
Moon Fish, in East Street, blamed a new recruit and claimed he had been sacked as a result, the council added.
But the business now faces an urgent visit from health inspectors.
The footage, which lasted more than two minutes, appears to show an employee repeatedly raising lumps of frozen fish and then throwing them down onto the kerb to break them up.
It was shared in online community groups across Barking, Havering and Ilford, provoking disgust.
Commenters called for the business to be shut down, labelling the practice “terrible”, “nasty”, “vile” and “dirty”.
Barking and Dagenham Council said the business had only registered with the authority on May 10 this year, so had not yet been inspected.
“We had already been made aware of the video and had acted on it immediately due to the potential food safety risks involved,” a spokesperson said.
“We have contacted the operator, who advised that it was the employee’s first day and was a trainee.
“He has now been removed from the shop and the affected fish has been discarded.
“Officers will be carrying out a full inspection of the premises imminently.”
The video was uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and TikTok by various users, including one called Squeechie Don, who wrote: “Look what they do to the fish they sell to the public… Look how disgusting this shop is.”
The Barking and Dagenham Post has chosen to reproduce the footage with the worker’s identity disguised.
Multiple internet users wrote that they had reported the company to the food standards authority after viewing the video, with one saying they were “completely disgusted”.
Another joked: “Now that’s what I call a battered fish.”
The Barking and Dagenham Post visited Moon Fish on Tuesday (October 24) to offer it the opportunity to comment.
A staff member said there was no owner or manager on site, but repeated the explanation provided to the council.
“Basically, it was a new guy,” he said. “It was his first day.”
Staff agreed to pass our reporter’s details to the manager. However, the manager did not make contact.
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