Six food outlets that got lowest hygiene rating
DERBYSHIRE is blessed with dozens of top-quality eateries, takeaways and other food establishments boasting delicious food, comfortable surroundings and great prices.
But another thing many of these outlets pride themselves on is food hygiene, an important factor in ensuring our food is safe to eat.
Hundreds of the county’s establishments have four and five-star reviews, but some others are not quite up to scratch.
Ratings from the Food Standards Agency reveal that there are six food outlets in Derbyshire with zero-star food hygiene scores, meaning urgent improvements are necessary and could even see them close if changes are not made.
Despite the low scores, these latest inspections mean that the number of zero-star outlets in Derby city has halved in a month, with BBQ Express on Normanton Road going from zero to five stars.
Three of the remaining six are in Derby – namely Frites 33 in St Peter’s Street, New Desi Dera in Normanton Road and the Pear Tree Community Shop on Pear Tree Road.
All three were inspected since March this year, with Frites 33 found to have five dead mice on a glue board in its premises which led to it being temporarily closed.
The remaining three zero-star food shops are spread around the county, in Bolsover, Derbyshire Dales and North East Derbyshire.
In Bolsover, the Gate Hotel, on Main Road in Langwith, scored zero stars on August 17.
In the Derbyshire Dales, the Red Lion in Bakewell’s Rutland Square scored the lowest rating on August 19.
The Renishaw Convenience Store, in Circular Drive in Renishaw, North East Derbyshire, also scored zero stars, although it was last inspected on September 10 2020.
But Derby still has a number of onestar establishments, including Istanbul Restaurant in Pear Tree Road, which was found to have both dead and live mice and droppings throughout the premises.
It was temporarily closed in March after a zero-star rating. But it then made only minor improvements and was given a one-star rating on reinspection in June.
However, some one-star outlets have not been inspected since 2019. Inspections are carried out by the local authority according to standards set by the Food Standards Agency, but were paused during some parts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Zero star scores mean urgent improvements are needed, with one star meaning major improvements are necessary. A score of three stars or higher means a food outlet is generally compliant with regulations.
After a business is inspected, the council has 14 days to inform operators of the scoring decision.
The business then has 21 days to appeal against that decision and only after this can we at the Derby Telegraph submit a Freedom of Information request, which can take up to 20 working days to be provided.
Once we receive the information in the reports via Freedom of Information requests, we again contact the business in question for comment to see what action it has taken before publishing the findings of the report.
All food hygiene scores were correct as of September 29, 2021.