Inspectors spotted cockroaches crawling over fresh fruit and vegetables at a Leicestershire store with “extremely poor” cleaning standards.
Spicee Upp Store, located on High Street, Loughborough, has been given a zero-out-of-five food hygiene rating by Charnwood Borough Council inspectors following a visit on July 30.
Inspectors found the conditions so bad that they agreed with the supermarket owners to temporarily close the venue for a deep clean and to ensure pests were removed.
Inspectors came across live cockroaches, which they say “spanned through the entire life cycle” in areas such as the butchery, crawling
over the fresh fruit and vegetables in the display area and in the packing area
where open food is handled.
Inspectors called the finding “completely unacceptable” as cockroaches can spread a host of diseases, such as salmonella.
A spokesperson for the store said it has been a “very challenging period for our business” and that staff were committed to high hygiene standards.
Cockroaches weren’t the only worrying things found; “evidence of flies” was also seen throughout the shop, including in an area where meat was being prepared.
A sink used for handwashing was also found to have no hot water and “didn’t appear to have been turned on” despite staff handling high-risk food within the area of the basin.
A meat slicer was also found to have “congealed meat” and was “caked” in meat debris, which inspectors said could have become a “source of contamination” and “perfect food source” for insects to thrive on.
A build-up of dead cockroaches was also found stuck in cobwebs under the sink in the butchery area.
Inspectors raised concerns from a previous visit after a rear door was found open, whilst multiple missing or displaced ceiling panels were observed, which they feared could provide access points for pests.
Both of these issues had been raised with the supermarket before, but were still apparent in the July inspection.
The cleaning at Spicee Upp supermarket was called “extremely poor” by inspectors, who claimed that the shop had been operating in pest-infested conditions for at least a month.
The Charnwood Borough Council inspector wrote: “Adequate steps had not been taken to control the issue and therefore your customers and staff were put at risk through these unhygienic conditions whilst the infestation spread.
“I was advised that you first suspected an issue some months ago; however, it
appears that you failed to take appropriate action at that time. This complacency has undoubtedly led to the situation you are now in.”
“This, and the fact that the business has a very poor compliance history strongly indicates that you do not recognise or accept the need for food safety and hygiene controls”.
A spokesperson from Spicee Upp said it had been a “really challenging time” for the business.
They said: “We take food safety and hygiene extremely seriously and acknowledge the concerns raised during the council’s inspection on 30 July.
“Since the inspection, we have taken extensive remedial action, including engaging specialist pest control contractors, implementing a programme of professional treatments, carrying out additional deep cleaning and strengthening our preventative measures.
“We are pleased to confirm that the store has now reopened with the full support of the council and that no cockroach activity has been observed following the remedial work and ongoing pest control treatments.
“This has been a very challenging period for our business, but we have used it as an opportunity to strengthen our procedures and ensure that food safety remains our priority.
“We remain committed to maintaining high hygiene standards and cooperating with Environmental Health to ensure that the necessary standards are consistently met”.
