UPDATED: Over 1800 Isle of Wight businesses that serve food have a 4 or 5 star rating for food hygiene standards, but shockingly two leading businesses, The George and Ryde Castle, have been rated as 0 and are in need of urgent improvement.
Upmarket hotel The George in Yarmouth (pictured left) – which hosted Benedict Cumberbatch’s pre-wedding party back in February – has surprisingly been given the lowest rating of zero by the Isle of Wight Council’s food hygiene inspectors. On the other side of the Island, the recently renovated Ryde Castle Hotel has also been rated as zero.
Both hotels require ‘urgent improvement’ following the unannounced inspections back in September, which they say has now been undertaken.
Trevor Oliver, new manager of Ryde Castle, said:
“We have always been proud of our five star rating and are extremely disappointed at the re-rating, which came as a result of an inspection on a day when we were experiencing staffing difficulties and the kitchen supervision on that day was not adequate.
“I would like to apologise unreservedly to our customers and stress that since this inspection, Environmental Health inspectors have paid us another visit and confirmed they are happy with the action we have taken.
“Our reputation has been built on the quality of our food and drink and the rigorous hygiene standards we apply. All of our food handlers – from kitchen porters to chefs – must be qualified to the Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate before being allowed to work in our kitchens. New team members have been recruited and to ensure our usual kitchen practices remain robust, the entire team has undergone re-training on our food handling procedures.
“We are confident in the extremely high standards of food hygiene that we employ and with strengthened kitchen supervision in place will be requesting a new visit from the FSA as soon as possible so we can look to reclaim our five stars.”
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Meanwhile The George have said their poor rating is down to paperwork issues:
“Our current poor rating by the Environmental Health Standards reflects the unfortunate situation of our previous Head Chef (now departed) not completing the required paperwork correctly in the kitchen.
“This situation has now been completely rectified and we are looking forward to a re inspection when we will have the opportunity to regain our previous high rating”.
Purple Mango in Shanklin and Lake Kebab & Pizza House have also received a 0 rating, whilst Amazon World, Hong Kong Express (Ryde), Royal Solent Yacht Club (Yarmouth) and the Pilot Boat Inn (Bembridge) are among those given a rating of just 1.
It’s not bad news for the majority though – more than 90% of Island businesses that are rated under the government’s food hygiene rating scheme have been awarded 4 or 5 stars out of 5, including the likes of Appley Manor Hotel in Ryde and Browns at Yaverland.
Council food hygiene inspectors, who carry out unannounced visits, check everything from hygiene practices, compliance with regulations and management of the business before awarding a score. Organisations are given a sticker showing their rating which they can display in their window.
Ratings are given to any place that you can eat away from home, from everyday cafe’s, sandwich shops and restaurants, to schools, supermarkets and residential care homes. Businesses selling items such as wrapped sweets, or care at home services, are exempt from ratings.
Councillor Phil Jordan, Isle of Wight Council Executive member responsible for regulatory services, said:
“Food ratings give the public a confident insight into the standard of hygiene in establishments which, in turn, can help them choose where they may want to eat. With Christmas fast approaching this can also be important because those families and people who may wish to eat out over the festival period can ‘look before they book’.
“The scoring also serves to improve standards because no food provider would want to be seen as having a low score rating of course, but it is very encouraging that already 90 per cent of all organisations that serve food have the top two ratings. Those in the other ten per cent now know what they need to do to improve their score and become an acceptable high rating provider of food.”
The food hygiene rating scheme can be found at www.food.gov.uk.
UPDATE THURSDAY: Responding to what a zero score means for businesses, an Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said:
“Any business that receives a food hygiene inspection is judged on three areas relating to hygiene and safety, confidence in management and the condition of the premises. Each section is given a score up to a maximum of 30, with the total score then added up. The lower the score, the higher the star rating, so for example a total score of below 15 would be a five star rating, whereas a score above 50 is a zero star rating.
“If a business receives a zero star rating, we would expect required improvements to be made and inspecting officers will offer advice and assistance to help businesses comply and improve. A zero star rating in itself is not a reason to close a business although if we feel the risk to the public was high then this is a possible outcome. The council has a staged enforcement policy in which there are a number of options available, and prosecution is only ever used as a last resort. The vast majority of businesses do make improvements, and since The George and Ryde Castle both received a zero rating, re-visits have taken place and improvements have been made in both cases.”
