Scores on the Doors - filthy pubs

 

Further to my previous posts on the 'Scores on the Doors' scheme run by the Food Hygiene Agency, I decided to make Freedom of Information requests to a couple of councils to find out why a couple of pubs had scored so low on the scheme.

Cardiff Council were the first to respond but there was a delay from Powys Council - above is a screenshot from the Food Standards Agency website regarding the George Hotel in Brecon which scored a 0/5 - the website does not go into detail as to why the score was so low, hence the FOI request.

The George Hotel in Brecon scored so low because:

Compliance Food Hygiene and Safety 

Some major non-compliance with statutory obligations

"Repeat issue re fridge. High risk stored"  

Structural

Some major non-compliance with stat obligations

"Grease to walls. Cleaning issues" 

Confidence in Management Systems 

Poor track record of compliance, little or no technical knowledge. Little or no appreciation of hazards or quality control. 

"No food safety management".

Not the type of place you'd really want to eat in is it?

The company that owns the George in Brecon also runs the Cricketers in Cardiff which scored marginally better with 1/5

I did get banned from the Cricketers early this year after I complained to the owner via email that his pub stank of fish, which it does. Good job I did not eat in this place as the inspectors found:

Confidence in management/control procedures

"....have not carried out the kind of logical but simple analysis of the food safety hazards present that is required by current food legislation"

Compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures

"Several ready-to-eat food items found in the desert and sandwich trays were found past their use-by-date"
Oh dear, serving out-of-date food to your customers! Is the pub called the Cricketers or the Crapeters?
Compliance with structural requirements
"Ice-making machine was dirty".
"Window in the kitchen left open and provided easy access for pests"
No doubt attracted by the smell of fish from the pub.
"Fridge/freezer in the kitchen was not clean".
"Door seal of the fridge was dirty".
"Floor covering in the kitchen was dirty".
"Ceiling above the hot cupboard in the kitchen was dirty".

Not a glowing report, though I understand improvements have been made. It is odd that the George in Brecon appears to have had less serious issues than the Cricketers in Cardiff, but was given 0/5 rather than 1/5. It seems to be that each council environmental health departments have different criteria to awarding the scores.

The owner of these premises proudly states that he has access to my Facebook account and is in fact  cyberstalking me, if anyone is interested, below is a screenshot from Linkedin account to show that he does indeed read this blog and follow my Twitter updates.

 

Still at least while he is cyberstalking me he is not bullying his staff!

Make displaying food hygiene scores compulsory

Assembly Member calls for urgent legislation to force eateries to display hygiene scores

Andrew RT Davies, the South Wales Central AM and leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Assembly, has commended the swift response from Public Health Wales and environmental health teams in dealing with an outbreak of E.coli in Cardiff. He also repeated his calls for the Welsh Government to urgently bring forward legislation to force public eateries to display hygiene scores.

Earlier this year, Andrew sponsored the launch of Consumer Focus Wales’ second annual progress report, which was established to monitor the progress made following the publication of the Pennington recommendations.

He said: “Regrettably it appears that these outbreaks are happening all too frequently. In 2005 we saw the tragic death of a very young child and in 2009 there was another serious outbreak in Wrexham.”

“It has taken an age for the Welsh Government to introduce legislation in this area, even though the Pennington Report was published some time ago now. This latest outbreak is proof, if proof were needed, that we need to introduce a ‘scores on the doors’ system which would shame owners into action; or, at the very least, give consumers all of the information they need to make a decision.”

Andrew added: “It is unfortunate that the Welsh Government are only now initiating discussions and consultation around this with a view to bringing forward a bill at some time in the future. They should be in a position to legislate now, not instigating yet more discussions.”

E.coli is a serious bacterial infection that causes stomach pain and diarrhoea; it is often passed on through contaminated food or water, or via contact with farm animals. Many people have long-term abnormal kidney functions following contraction of the infection, whilst some suffer other lifelong complications such as high blood pressure or seizures. In some cases infection can lead to kidney failure.

At the moment it is optional if premises wish to display their food hygiene scores or not, however a brief search on the net reveals the scores such as the one below:

The pub stank of fish on a recent visit as well.
For more on Food Hygiene Scores take a look at Nat's place.