A North East town centre shop says it took immediate action and made major improvements, including a full deep clean, to lift its food hygiene rating from zero to three.
Amaglobal Foods, an African and Caribbean food shop on Ramsgate in central Stockton, said it “acted immediately to address every issue identified” by Stockton Council’s environmental health inspection in June.
It said it made “substantial improvements”, updating its food safety system, training staff, bringing in daily cleaning schedules and food safety checks, carrying out a “comprehensive deep clean” and adding hygienic wall cladding, easy-to-clean surfaces, improved storage and labelling and a dedicated hand wash station.
The June inspection resulted in a zero food hygiene rating. However, after measures taken by the shop and a re-inspection, the council gave the shop a new food hygiene rating of three out of five, saying it was pleased with food safety procedures and controls.
The original food hygiene report made criticisms including “no food safety management system in effect”, dirty surfaces, food “placed directly on the floor of the walk-in freezer” and poor cleaning and food hygiene awareness.
It said a deep clean was needed and recommended a cleaning schedule, regular fridge and freezer cleans, keeping the walk-in freezer organised and tidy, daily waste removal, separate storage for cleaning items and wrapping all open food.
However, after the re-inspection, the latest report from July 21 says: “I am pleased to note that you have carried out your Food Safety Management Procedure and controls appear to be in place.”
It says staff need to complete food hygiene training, gives a required level of training and recommends refreshers every three years.
Amadi Godwin, director of Amaglobal Foods Ltd, said: “We welcome the outcome of the official revisit inspection, which has resulted in our food hygiene rating increasing from zero to three.
"Following the previous inspection, we took immediate action to address every recommendation made by Stockton Council’s environmental health team.
“We implemented a comprehensive food safety management system, provided additional staff training, introduced robust cleaning and monitoring procedures, upgraded our handwashing facilities, improved food storage and labelling practices, installed hygienic wall cladding, carried out a thorough deep clean, and completed the maintenance works identified. We are pleased that the official revisit has recognised these improvements.
“We have addressed the issues identified during the previous inspection and are now compliant with the required food hygiene standards assessed during the revisit.
"While we are encouraged by this significant improvement, we remain committed to continually raising our standards.
“Food safety will always be our highest priority, and we will continue working closely with Stockton Council’s environmental health team as we strive to achieve an even higher food hygiene rating in the future.”
The new report also gives requirements on sanitisers, waste disposal, deliveries and storage, saying: “Recent complaints have identified that frozen produce, specifically chicken, is not being put away immediately.”
It says the fridge and floors in the butchers’, a shop front fish freezer and a metal walk-in freezer floor were dirty, a walk-in freezer was over-stocked, the fish freezer needed defrosting, a door was missing due to damage and “metal trays were stored directly on top of open raw meat”.
It adds cardboard should be removed from the butcher room floor, some floor and wall areas needed repairs and, as before, it recommends regular, thorough checks for evidence of pests and recording fridge temperatures.
Mr Godwin said: “We acknowledge the recommendations contained within the latest inspection report and remain committed to acting on every point raised as part of our programme of continuous improvement.”
He said staff had successfully completed Level 2 Food Hygiene training at Stockton Sixth Form College since the June report.
He added: “We have also strengthened our food safety management system, implemented formal cleaning schedules and monitoring records, improved our sanitising procedures, upgraded our handwashing facilities, reinforced our arrangements for deliveries, food storage, stock rotation, waste management and temperature monitoring, and completed a programme of maintenance and deep cleaning throughout the premises.
“The damaged door referred to in the report has now been repaired. We have also reinforced our delivery procedures to ensure that frozen products are treated as a priority on arrival and transferred immediately into the appropriate freezer storage to maintain the cold chain.
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“In addition, we have reviewed our freezer storage procedures and stock management to ensure products are stored appropriately, allowing adequate air circulation, effective stock rotation, easier cleaning and ongoing temperature monitoring.”
He said they were pleased with the latest food hygiene rating of three, adding: “This reflects the significant improvements made since the previous inspection and demonstrates the progress recognised during the revisit.
"Maintaining high food hygiene standards is an ongoing responsibility, and we remain fully committed to continually improving our procedures and providing our customers with a safe, clean and well-managed environment.”
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