Mouldy ribs, old sandwich fillings, dead flies and a smashed kitchen window sound more like the inventory for a particularly grim episode of Kitchen Nightmares. But they’re among the issues inspectors reported after visiting a Leicestershire pub which was subsequently given a one-out-of-five food hygiene rating.
Shoulder of Mutton, located on Main Street, Foxton, near Market Harborough, was handed the score by Harborough District Council after an inspection on September 2 – and it’s one of the lowest scores possible.
According to the report, food hygiene chiefs deemed food rotation procedures “inadequate” after finding mouldy food, including two containers of cooked ribs and cooked sausages.
In addition, two sealed packs of sandwich fillings were found, with a handwritten label indicating a date of July 30 and a shelf life of only three days.
The inspector told the owners that daily checks “needed to be introduced to ensure that all food has been appropriately date labelled and anything out of date removed” and ordered them to rectify the problem immediately.
They also found that the same chopping board was being used to prepare washed, unwashed and ready-to-eat salad items.
The report says that separate chopping boards should have been used.
Concerns were also raised about cross-contamination after a meat delivery that included ready-to-eat pâté was stored with raw meat on one shelf.
Raw fish and ready-to-eat foods were also found stored side-by-side in one of the fridges.
The inspection also uncovered that the kitchen wash hand basin was also being used to store sponges and scouring pads, whilst the wash hand basin for bar staff had no soap or hygienic means to dry hands.
Not only that, the pub’s fly killer unit needed cleaning to remove dead flies, the report notes.
Inspectors also highlighted the need for an “urgent” repair to a shattered kitchen window.
Other cleaning concerns were also raised by the inspector, who found that a wall behind a deep-fat fryer, ice machines in the cellar, and the floor under specific fridges needed “improved cleaning”.
Food safety was also not being adequately managed in the business, according to inspectors, who found that staff training pages were blank and that safe food-preparation methods were not being followed in the kitchen.
Inspectors told owners that they needed to ensure that food handlers working in the kitchen were trained to use the pub’s Safer Food Better Business pack, with training recorded on the staff training pages.
A representative of the Shoulder of Mutton, who identified themselves as Tracy, said they were in the process of challenging the inspection rating.
They also said that a recent visit by a food hygiene inspector would have revealed they would have received a score higher than one, but confirmed that an official revisit had yet to take place.
Despite further questions from the LDRS, they declined to comment further.
A Harborough District Council spokesperson confirmed, however, that no such appeal had been lodged within the 21-day period and was not being considered by the council.
By Chris Harper (Local Democracy Reporter) and Laura Wilde (extra gubbins)
