Author Topic: A random thread for food things that don't really warrant a thread of their own (Read 523693 times)

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1925 on:** 03 October, 2016, 10:19:01 pm »

What seems odd is that they would proudly display a 1 rating on their door. I doubt if it really means much in practice though.

Kim · « **Reply #1926 on:** 03 October, 2016, 11:07:39 pm »

Quote from: Cudzoziemiec on 03 October, 2016, 10:19:01 pm

What seems odd is that they would proudly display a 1 rating on their door.

I thought they were legally compelled to in Wales?

citoyen · « **Reply #1927 on:** 03 October, 2016, 11:19:14 pm »

Quote from: Jakob W on 03 October, 2016, 09:47:06 pm

I was under the impression it was quite easy to get a 4 for essentially trivial reasons that had little to do with actual good safety - is that not the case?

AIUI, some of the requirements aren't directly food hygiene related - you can lose marks just for not filing your paperwork on time, but since that paperwork relates to how well you run your kitchen, that sounds fair to me. And yes, it's all fairly basic stuff, so any establishment that's competently run should be able to achieve a 5.

You can read a detailed breakdown of the scoring system on the FSA website.

Kim is right - from the FAQs:

Quote

Does a food business have to show its rating?

Businesses in England and Northern Ireland do not have to display their rating. So if you see a business without a hygiene rating sticker or certificate, you’ll have to decide if you want to eat or buy food from there without knowing the hygiene standards.

Putting a hygiene rating on show is a good advertisement for businesses that meet the requirements of food hygiene law.

A good food hygiene rating is good for business.

The situation is different in Wales. Businesses that get a new rating after 28 November 2013, must by law display a sticker showing their rating in a prominent place in all entrances to the premises.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1928 on:** 04 October, 2016, 09:00:05 am »

I see. Don't think I've ever seen one round here, so presumably no one's getting 5. In fact I remember a year or two ago a list of these results being published in a local paper – or perhaps it was just naming and the shaming the 1s and 0s – and I was surprised to see it applies not just to cafes and restaurants but some, though not all, shops selling food – ingredients – to be cooked/consumed at home.

T42 · « **Reply #1929 on:** 04 October, 2016, 09:15:05 am »

Quote from: citoyen on 03 October, 2016, 11:19:14 pm

AIUI, some of the requirements aren't directly food hygiene related - you can lose marks just for not filing your paperwork on time, but since that paperwork relates to how well you run your kitchen, that sounds fair to me. And yes, it's all fairly basic stuff, so any establishment that's competently run should be able to achieve a 5.

Crikey, that's harsh. I always regarded paperwork as a penance and left it to the very last moment, occasionally missing deadlines and getting ticked off by the various official ogres we have to kowtow to, yet I had a sparkling rep for providing good software and service. Seems unfair that someone who puts so much time into running a good restaurant that he hasn't much over for the official asswipes should have that counted against a hygiene rating.

citoyen · « **Reply #1930 on:** 04 October, 2016, 10:53:30 am »

Quote from: T42 on 04 October, 2016, 09:15:05 am

Seems unfair that someone who puts so much time into running a good restaurant that he hasn't much over for the official asswipes should have that counted against a hygiene rating.

I can see it from both sides - if you don't do the paperwork, it means the inspectors don't have a means of checking you're doing everything you need to do.

From what my friend the inspector said, you have to be genuinely pretty bad to get a low score - and he never struck me as the kind of person who would penalise a restaurant for the sheer bureaucratic fun of it.

T42 · « **Reply #1931 on:** 04 October, 2016, 10:57:44 am »

Fair enough - I have been to a few restaurants you wouldn't care to go round the back of on a hot day.

ian · « **Reply #1932 on:** 04 October, 2016, 11:35:08 am »

Personally, if they're too lazy to do a bit of paperwork, you kind of have to ask what else they can't be bothered to do.

That said, I've pretty much given up takeaways, they're rarely any good (or good for you). Restaurants, I will suspend belief, and assume everything is super-clean behind the door. I'll happily eat food I've dropped on the floor unless my wife manages to slap it out of my hand before I can get it in my mouth. She's got pretty good reflexes.

T42 · « **Reply #1933 on:** 04 October, 2016, 01:08:12 pm »

Running a restaurant involves hard work and long hours: I don't think "too lazy" would come into it. More like "run off their feet".

hellymedic · « **Reply #1934 on:** 04 October, 2016, 01:36:22 pm »

Quote from: T42 on 04 October, 2016, 10:57:44 am

Fair enough - I have been to a few restaurants you wouldn't care to go round the back of on a hot day.

Partner had Posh Big Birthday Tea at the Savoy.
Wheelchair access entailed the beer cellar, which smelt of rodents...
...and didn't look too pretty either!

SteveC · « **Reply #1935 on:** 04 October, 2016, 02:22:33 pm »

Article about this in the Graun last week. The inspector they interviewed said that three or better was a 'pass' and he would never eat anywhere with a score of two or less. The difference between 3 & 5 is largely down to how well the paperwork is done.

Basil · « **Reply #1936 on:** 04 October, 2016, 03:34:12 pm »

I've only knowingly ¹ used an establishment with a 2 marking once. A coffee place in Abergveny. We only noticed the marking on the way out.

¹ Of course, I may have used many such, or worse, in England, but without knowing due to reasons given upthread.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1937 on:** 05 October, 2016, 03:29:38 pm »

Turns out one of the places in Bristol that has been Named! and Shamed! for getting zero is this place: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=47517.msg2065503#msg2065503
(http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/clean-cafe-18-food-establishments-bristol-zero/story-28233814-detail/story.html)

Basil · « **Reply #1938 on:** 05 October, 2016, 04:05:07 pm »

Gosh. What happens when they get a zero? Are they closed down?

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #1939 on:** 05 October, 2016, 04:19:13 pm »

Of course not. How on earth could they close Kim down?

hellymedic · « **Reply #1940 on:** 08 October, 2016, 06:37:24 pm »

Sainsbury's appear to have rebadged their 'Basics' strawberries as 'Greengrocer' strawberries.
I believe they are doing this with other fruit & veg.

rafletcher · « **Reply #1941 on:** 08 October, 2016, 08:15:57 pm »

Quote from: hellymedic on 08 October, 2016, 06:37:24 pm

Sainsbury's appear to have rebadged their 'Basics' strawberries as 'Greengrocer' strawberries.
I believe they are doing this with other fruit & veg.

People don't like the "stigma" of buying "basics"

hence the rebranding.

hellymedic · « **Reply #1942 on:** 08 October, 2016, 08:23:04 pm »

Quote from: rafletcher on 08 October, 2016, 08:15:57 pm

Quote from: hellymedic on 08 October, 2016, 06:37:24 pm
Sainsbury's appear to have rebadged their 'Basics' strawberries as 'Greengrocer' strawberries.
I believe they are doing this with other fruit & veg.

People don't like the "stigma" of buying "basics" hence the rebranding.

A beauty of shopping online is that almost nobody can see what you buy and judge this...

Basics chocolate mousse remains so-named and still seems fine!

perpetual dan · « **Reply #1943 on:** 09 October, 2016, 08:21:18 pm »

^ Tesco have created a whole range of made-up farm names for the basic fruit and veg.

My random thing is good news: Miss Dan the Elder has discovered the making of bread and butter putting. It was ready just in time for me getting back from a nice long bike ride.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #1944 on:** 23 October, 2016, 05:09:14 pm »

I'm making tahini & pomegranate biscuits with rosewater and chocolate chips. Last time I made them, they turned out great. But this time I'm using gluten free flour. It seems to have made a very wet dough, so I've had to put a lot more in to get it to a rolling-out consistency (it was more like cake batter), and now they're done, they're a bit dry and floury.

Quint · « **Reply #1945 on:** 23 October, 2016, 05:24:01 pm »

Quote from: citoyen on 03 October, 2016, 01:13:54 pm

Quote from: Basil on 30 September, 2016, 04:04:51 pm
Meanwhile, in local news.
Our local Indian take-away.

Based on my understanding of how the food hygiene rating system works (as explained to me by an inspector), I would steer clear of pretty much anywhere that scores less than 5.

A lot of the scoring is based on filling in the necessary forms etc, and I can imagine that there might be a language barrier for some Indian/Chinese restaurants run by non-natives, but there's no excuse for only scoring 1/5.

Whether you get a four or a five star food hygiene rating can also be down to something as simple as the age of the building and size of the kitchen, three sinks (hand wash, pot wash and food prep sinks) will not all fit meaning two sinks have to rotate, low water pressure again drops the rating because you can't power jet wash for veg and so on, you can have all the records and a spotless kitchen and still end up with three or four stars. 1 out 5 is completely unacceptable and the place should be shut for a deep clean and staff re training.

woollypigs · « **Reply #1946 on:** 28 October, 2016, 06:46:49 pm »

Walked past the new Polish shop set up by some local Pakistanis and got given three bags of Polish sausages for free, guess what I'm having for dinner tonight

SteveC · « **Reply #1947 on:** 28 October, 2016, 06:57:13 pm »

Quote from: Quint on 23 October, 2016, 05:24:01 pm

Whether you get a four or a five star food hygiene rating can also be down to something as simple as the age of the building and size of the kitchen, three sinks (hand wash, pot wash and food prep sinks) will not all fit meaning two sinks have to rotate, low water pressure again drops the rating because you can't power jet wash for veg and so on, you can have all the records and a spotless kitchen and still end up with three or four stars. 1 out 5 is completely unacceptable and the place should be shut for a deep clean and staff re training.

One of the pubs in our village had a rating of four until they had a refurbishment when it went up to five. Same people cooking the same food so I assume it was something like the sinks or some other fixture which wasn't quite up to scratch.

andyoxon · « **Reply #1948 on:** 29 October, 2016, 02:16:47 pm »

Non stop moaning in aoxon towers about some ripe French brie in the fridge... and it's in a bag in an air tight box!

T42 · « **Reply #1949 on:** 29 October, 2016, 02:29:50 pm »

Putting Brie in the fridge is a hanging offence in our house. Ditto all soft cheeses. The difficulty is, though, keeping them at a constant 15°C, room temperature being too high. I'd rather leave them out and eat them fast, though, than murder them in the fridge.

BTW, if a cheese such as Camembert or Brie does get to the stage where it stinks of ammonia it's usually past it.