TV chef loses top food safety rating over chicken livers

A top TV chef has hit back at health inspectors who stripped his restaurant of its top food safety rating and said improvement was necessary.

A disagreement over the way chicken livers should be cooked saw Rocksalt in Folkestone taken from the top five out five rating, down to two.

Mark Sargeant, the restaurant’s executive chef, says the “powers that be” would have his staff cook the livers until they are well-done, turning them into a “rancid, crumbly paste”.

He said the low rating came about because of a conversation between Shepway District Council’s inspector and the restaurant’s head chef, when it was revealed the dish was cooked to 70C, instead of the recommended 75C.

Mr Sargeant, who opened the popular and awardwinning restaurant in 2011, acknowledged the “food guidelines are there to help us”. He said in a statement: “In any professional kitchen such as ours they are a normal part of our job. After many years of holding five stars, which in my mind should be normal really, we have been dropped down to two stars.”

The inspector noted chicken livers were cooked “medium” which they said could lead to food poisoning.

Mr Sargeant said: “We also know you’re no longer allowed to serve burgers rare and the law has now deemed we can’t enjoy a steak tartare without searing the outside first, then scraping it off before chopping it up. Now it appears we are no longer allowed to cook chicken livers pink, something I have grown up with.”

He confirmed the restaurant would be appealing the decision and writing a letter to be posted with the rating online.