Butcher blames failure of fridge for 1-star food hygiene score
THE owner of a Derby butcher’s shop has blamed a fridge failure for a surprise low food hygiene score.
Greedy Pig Butchers, in Park Farm in Allestree, scored one star, meaning major improvement is necessary, in a food hygiene inspection on July 27.
But another branch of the same butcher in Repton scored four stars, meaning “good”, in March.
According to the Food Standards Agency, which sets out the criteria for inspections, the Allestree butcher needed improvement in hygienic food handling, which includes cooking and food preparation, and major improvement was necessary in management of food safety, which covers processes ensuring food is safe to eat and staff are briefed on food safety protocols.
Latimer Higham, owner of Greedy Pig Butchers, said the fridge issue had now been resolved and took place while both he and the manager were on holiday, which caused delays in getting the problem fixed.
He said: “For the last 12 years of me owning that company it has always been four stars. The week prior [to the inspection], we had a major fridge breakdown, our compressor went. So, I phoned up the fridge engineer, but the issue was that there was a 35-day waiting list for a compressor.
“That was out of the question, so I had to transfer all the stock that I’d got over to my other shop at Repton, and then I had to cancel all my orders coming into the shop until we got the fridge running. The fridge engineer then scouted around and managed to get a complete unit. He came out, and fitted it on the back of the wall of the shop, and it took him nearly three days to complete that job by the Friday.
“When [the manager] came back [from holiday], on Monday, some of the stock was transferred back from Repton to the Allestree shop.
“Environmental health turned up on the Tuesday, and there was one basket of meat in the fridge that should have been thrown away, which was obviously out of date, so [the manager] said ‘we’ll throw it away now.’ There was no issue whatsoever with our paperwork and cleanliness of the shop.”
The shop was found to be generally satisfactory when it came to building cleanliness and the quality of facilities, according to the FSA.
The score came as a surprise to many at the business, which boasts a five-star rating on Google after 13 reviews.
Any food outlet that scores three stars is deemed to be generally compliant with food hygiene regulations.
Inspections are carried out by the local authority, which has the power to temporarily close a business if it poses a risk to public health.
The Derby Telegraph regularly reports on businesses that record low food hygiene scores. After a business is inspected, the council has 14 days to inform operators of the score. The business then has 21 days to appeal and only after this can the Derby Telegraph submit a Freedom of Information request, which can take up to 20 working days to be provided. Once the information is received, the business is again contacted to see what action it has taken before publishing the findings of the report.
The ratings were correct as of September 10, 2021.