Butchery beef hard to swallow for Jamie
JAMIE Oliver’s butchery in London was forced to close temporarily earlier this year after health inspectors reported serious hygiene problems.
The problems at the celebrity chef’s outlet included mouse droppings, mould on carcasses and out-of-date wagyu beef.
Barbecoa, near St Paul’s Cathedral, closed its doors for 24 hours after public health officers gave it a score of one out of five in January.
It reopened after the issues were addressed.
A comment on the Food Standards Agency’s website at the time said: “Major improvement necessary.”
Carcasses hanging in basement chillers were found to have mould growing on them, slicers and vacuum packers were left dirty, and expensive cuts of meat were found to be past their sell-by dates.
The butcher’s shop, which supplies meat to the expensive restaurant of the same name upstairs, was found to have dirty fridge door handles, in- adequate washing facilities for staff, poor lighting, damaged flooring and a “heavy presence” of mouse droppings.
A spokeswoman for the Jamie Oliver Group said this week that mould on ageing meat carcasses was normal and was always removed before the meat was served to customers.
“The dry ageing of meat on the bone encourages the natural formation of mould and it is common practice in butcheries to remove the mould cap before trimming,” she said.
Ageing beef makes it more tender and flavoursome.
Roger Kelsey, chief executive of Britain’s National Federation of Meat and Food Traders, said a certain amount of mould was normal and not harmful in any case.
“It will be either what we call whiskers — white spot or blue green mould — and the thing is they are not harmful to man. You could eat them,” he said.
Other inspection reports have highlighted problems with Oliver’s restaurants that range from out-of-date food at Canary Wharf to raw burgers in Leeds.