Managers at a Nottingham takeaway where staff used a jug for personal hygiene after going to the toilet say improvements have been made following a food hygiene inspection.
Inspectors found the jug was “being used for personal hygiene after using the toilet instead of using toilet paper” at Papa’s Grill, in Sneinton Dale, Nottingham.
The takeaway was one of three cafes, shops or takeaways in Nottingham to receive a zero hygiene rating out of five between 2016 and 2017. Staff at all three have told Notts TV they have made improvements since, and one has already been upgraded straight to five stars following a recent re-inspection.
An inspection report for Papa’s Grill dated November 29, 2016, also highlighted there was “no hot water, soap or hygienic means of hand drying available”, giving the business a zero out of five hygiene rating.
The owner says all the changes recommended have since been made and the business is now waiting for a new inspection and rating.
Inspectors said the practice of staff using the jug after going to the toilet was “very concerning as bacteria in faeces could have contaminated the wash hand basin and then to the food handling area which could have entered ready-to-eat food such as salad”.
City council inspectors told managers the wash hand basin should be repaired with access to a supply of hot water.
The report also found the “same utensil was being used to place raw and cooked burgers on and off the griddle” and this could have caused food poisoning.
And “raw and cooked food, such as chicken tikka and chicken kebab meat, were also being stored in the fridge in the same type and colour of containers”.
While the report also highlighted “food handlers were not wearing suitable, clean protective clothing whilst handling and preparing food”.
Manager and owner of the takeaway, who would only give his name as Ali, said: “I [now] cook food in a different way and meat is kept in different containers and in different fridges.
“We use different containers and different boxes. There is hot water and there is soap as well.
“We use toilet paper and there is always a new roll. All the work is done.
“We use protective equipment and staff wear a uniform and apron. Everybody uses gloves. What’s been recommended, I’ve basically done everything.”
He added the business has not yet been reinspected but he hopes it will receive an improved rating when the council re-vists.
The other businesses awarded zero include a shop in Radford Road found to sell food past its use-by dates.
Inspectors had to throw away 32 items last June at Aleyna Ltd, trading as Price Cutter, which were on sale past the dates when they should have been used by.
And the the shop’s inspection report highlighted 26 products were disposed of during an inspection the previous year.
On June 2, 2016, the products disposed of included “vacuum packaged meat and fish”, such as mackerel and pork ribs, which may have allowed the “growth of Clostridium Botulinum which produces a neurotoxin that can be fatal”.
Clostridium Botulinum is a bacteria which can produce the neurotoxin botulinum. Botulinum can cause flaccid paralysis, a condition which can affect nerves and lead to paralysis.
Inspectors also wrote in the report that stickers displaying a reduced price were found on top of the original price stickers on some foods, which indicated staff were aware of the use-by dates of the products but “failed to take appropriate action to remove the products from sale”.
But managers have taken steps to improve the standards of the shop – which two weeks ago was given a hygiene rating of five after a re-inspection. No-one from the shop wanted to comment but Nottingham City Council confirmed the store was given the improved rating.
The council conducts yearly, random hygiene checks at restaurants, bars, cafes and shops, awarding them marks out of five for hygiene. Only a small number a year typically achieve a ‘zero’ rating.
Staff at a shisha bar on Alfreton Road, were found to not be “aware of the need to check items [were] cooked properly prior to service, or how to check”.
Managers of Andalucia Shisha Cafe had not undertaken food safety training and did not know of the need not to “work with food when suffering [from] infectious symptoms”.
The inspection report for the shop, sent to owners on February 16 this year, highlighted there was no wash hand basin in the kitchen, although there was a working sink in the bar area.
Manager Bereket Gebremeskel said since the inspection the cafe has stopped serving food. He said there is now a wash hand basin in the kitchen, along with others in the toilet and bar area.
He said: “They [the council] told me to stop making food and I stopped it. I’m not cooking any food. I’ve not been cooking food for a long time, since February.
