A cafe serving Vietnamese street food has been told to make major improvement following a safety inspection.

Viet Bistro, on Redcar High Street, was only given a rating of one on a sliding scale of zero to five, zero being the lowest standard and five being the highest.

According to the Food Standards Agency, hygiene food handling and the cleanliness and condition of facilities and the building were both ‘good’.

But the management of food safety was criticised and said to need major improvement.
This category is described as covering the system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, along with evidence that staff know about food safety.

Read more: Three Darlington takeaways with a ZERO food hygiene rating

A report by a Redcar and Cleveland Council environmental officer seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said “high risk” food was being kept in the kitchen at an ambient temperature, when it should have been kept below 8C.

It also said hot food was allowed to cool at room temperature in the kitchen for an excessive time period, which presented “ideal conditions for food poisoning bacteria to grow”.

The inspection, last month, also observed that a cleaning product being used for food contact surfaces and equipment did not conform to British Standards.

Ceiling tiles in a food preparation area were also cracked and damaged, preventing effective cleaning and presenting a risk of contamination from falling debris and should be replaced.

The LDRS contacted the café for comment and was put in touch with a manager by a member of staff, but no response was received.

Viet Bistro says it delivers the “healthiest, tastiest, and most distinct cuisines in the world of street food to the UK” and it has a number of five star ratings from customers on the likes of Google, Trip Advisor and Facebook.

It has two other locations, in York and Leeds.

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