Warning after poor hygiene practices
Poor food hygiene practices at a Chinese restaurant in Bath city centre could see ‘formal action’ taken against the owner.
Tasty Restaurant in St James Parade has recorded a string of failings with the Food Standards Agency since opening in November 2016.
In its first inspection after just a month in business, it scored one out of five stars, meaning ‘major improvement necessary.’
Twelve months on, in December 2017, its rating was slashed to zero, the lowest possible score, following “serious” food poisoning and cleanliness concerns.
On March 5, the restaurant paid for a re-inspection in which standards were found to be “much improved” and it was given a new rating of three stars.
However, a mandatory unannounced re-inspection on April 23 found standards at Tasty Restaurant had “slipped again” and the business was scored two, meaning ‘improvement necessary.’
“Our lack of confidence in the management of food safety and a poor understanding of basic food safety principals [sic] by your staff, leaves us with no other alternative but to consider formal action,” a senior public protection officer from Bath and North East Somerset Council wrote.
The issues raised included:
n chef failing to wash his hands after smoking
n the same chef not wearing any protective clothing
n uncovered containers of food
n multiple unclean areas n cooked meat defrosting at room temperature n loose crab legs in a chest freezer n mould growing in a food storeroom
The officer said the owner had ignored all correspondence from the council.
“I have sent a number of letters and legal documents to you at your registered office address ... but you have chosen to ignore everyone.
“We have supported your business and the manager on site to great lengths but we have to decide whether our time is being wasted and whether formal action should now be considered.
The inspector encouraged the owner to contact him as a ‘matter of urgency.’
The public protection officer raised 18 statutory food safety requirements which Tasty Restaurant needs to address “to comply with the law”.
The first requirement was to “thoroughly clean and maintain” 12 different items or areas.
When the inspector arrived a chef was seen smoking outside the restaurant and was not seen to wash his hands when he returned to the kitchen.
“This is a basic expectation and shows why we have such low confidence levels in food hygiene standards on site,” the report reads.
Among other issues to be addressed, the report said the chef was also not wearing any protective clothing: “He needed to be told to put on an apron before starting work in the kitchen”.
Containers of food (for example, cooked pork) were found uncovered on the shelves and floor in the walk-in fridge, exposing them to the risk of contamination.
“Ensure all food is stored with a lid or adequate covering,” the owner was told.
Tasty Restaurant was the only food business out of around 1,700 in B&NES with a zero food hygiene rating when our website Bath Live published details of its report in January.
The restaurant has been contacted for comment.