Takeaway horrors
Scandal as 5,000 takeaways
THOUSANDS of restaurants and cafes have been caught dishing up food in filthy surroundings.
Inspectors found rats and cockroaches in some kitchens, along with hygiene breaches that could have harmed customers.
MORE than five thousand eateries in the north of England are failing to meet food hygiene standards, a Sunday Post investigation has found.
Our probe revealed that hospitals, nurseries, schools and sports clubs are among the venues found to have dirty kitchens.
Shockingly, even hangouts of the rich and famous such as Premiership and TV soap stars, have fallen well below expected food hygiene standards.
A spokesman for the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned: “If an officer finds that a business’s hygiene standards are very poor and there is an imminent risk to health — this means food is not safe to eat — the officer must take action.”
Just over 68,000 businesses and organisations in the north of England have been inspected by council environmental health officers in the past two years.
Information is available to the public through the FSA’s Food Hygiene Information Scheme.
In total, environmental health officials have told 5,058 eating places they must improve their food hygiene.
Our findings show that 1,733 of the 9,461 takeaways inspected— 18%— were given a food hygiene rating of two or below.
Any in this category are deemed to be failing.
More than 120 hotels and guest houses were also told to sharpen up their act.
They include the plush 11th Century Otterburn Castle Country House Hotel in Northumberland and Swinside Lodge Hotel in the Lake District.
Restaurants also performed poorly, with 1,048 of 13,489 checked being substandard.
The Grill on the Edge in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, also faced criticsm. The restaurant, a favourite with Manchester United and City players’ wives and girlfriends, scored only a single point in the FSA scheme in February.
The Ox Noble, which has hosted parties for Coronation Street soap stars could also only muster a point — meaning “major improvements” are needed.
High Street names such as Frankie & Benny’s, which has a restaurant atThe Gate, Newcastle, and supermarkets Tesco Express, Co-op, Spar, Costcutter, Nisa and Londis were also told to improve. More than 90
One takeaway contaminated food with chicken faeces
hospitals, care homes or children’s nurseries were also told to do better.
They include the Yew Tree Care Centre in Redcar, Cleveland, and Holmehurst residential care home in Carlisle.
A total of 41 schools, colleges or universities fell short on hygiene.
Astonishingly, these included St Augustine’s and St Theresa’s primary schools, which are served by Darlington Council’s Community catering team and Preston College’s butchery department.
More than 530 pubs, clubs and bars fell below expected food hygiene standards, with nearly 20 scoring zero – meaning “urgent improvements” are needed.
In Scotland, our investigation discovered more than three restaurants, cafes and shops a day being caught breaking strict food hygiene rules.
A total of 55 were deemed so bad, enforcement officers decided to shut them instantly.
They discovered filthy kitchens, untrained staff and infestations of rats, mice, cockroaches and beetles and live chickens in one restaurant’s kitchen.
Edinburgh City Council served 79 improvement notices and closed 20 premises.
Hahn Pham, who runs Saigon Saigon in St Andrew Square, was fined £1,500 after beetles were found throughout his restaurant in 2011.
Officers found an infestation of beetles and flies
Dumfries and Galloway council said it closed the Wok Inn in Stranraer last year because live hens being kept “within the food premises” had resulted in “contamination of food due to widespread chicken faeces”.
Another, Indian restaurant Shimla Pinks in Johnstone was “operating without water.”
In March, Narinder Singh was fined £500 for keeping his restaurant Uno’s Takeaway in Sandgate, Ayr, in an unclean condition.
Council officers found an infestation of beetles and flies within the food preparation area and a lack of routine cleaning.
Microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington warned dirty kitchens could lead to the spread of potentially fatal diseases. Prof Pennington said: ““Infestations of rats, mice and cockroaches show that the staff are not cleaning properly.”
He said hand-washing using soap, water and clean drying facilities were “crucial” particularly after handling raw meat.
Managers and staff must also have the right training in food hygiene.
Otherwise, there could be an outbreak of salmonella, the commonest cause of food poisoning.
Check your local café, pub or takeaway at ratings.food.gov.uk