By law any business selling food in Wales must be inspected and have a food hygiene rating - from Michelin-star restaurants to corner shops selling sandwiches. IAN CRAIG found out which venues and businesses in Gwent have zero hygiene ratings.
THE rules around food hygiene ratings in Wales are slightly stricter than they are elsewhere in the UK.
Since 2013 it has been required by law for all businesses selling food in Wales - including pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels, takeaways, schools, hospitals, canteens, care homes and corner shops - to display their hygiene rating in a prominent place, and to provide the information verbally if requested over the phone.
Takeaway menus are also required to include bilingual statements directing customers to where the rating can be found.
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Businesses are ranked from five - meaning standards are excellent - to zero - meaning urgent improvement is necessary. The rating is determined by looking at three elements:
- Hygiene - how food is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored.
- The condition of the structure of the buildings – including the cleanliness of kitchens, the layout, whether there is safe lighting and appropriate ventilation.
- Food safety - including record-keeping on how food is kept safe.
Inspections are carried out by local authority officers, and businesses have the right to appeal against ratings.
The only companies exempt from having hygiene inspections are those where food is not the primary activity of the company, and the only food sold can be kept on a shelf at room temperature and was wrapped or packaged before being brought to the business - for example, a leisure centre where packaged crisps, sweets and bottled drinks are available through a vending machine, for example, would not require an inspection. Childminders and others looking after people in their own homes are also not required to undergo food hygiene inspections.
Here are all the businesses in Gwent with zero hygiene ratings:
Newport:
- ECO Food Service Ltd, a food supply business based in Factory Road
Last inspected in December 2018, found 'urgent improvement necessary' on all three inspection categories - the hygienic handling of food, the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the buildings, and the management of food safety.
The business did not respond to request for comment from the Argus.
- JM's Street Treats, a mobile business based at the Wern Industrial Estate, Rogerstone
Last inspected in October 2018, flagged up 'major improvement necessary' in cleanliness and condition of facilities of the building, as well as management of food safety, and 'improvement necessary' in the hygienic handling of food.
Owner and manager Jenny Sully explained on the day the inspection was carried out, her boiler was broken.
"My landlord was supposed to sort it out," she said. "He doesn't understand that, when you rent out a unit for a food business, the boiler should have been running.
"I ended up paying for a new boiler myself, which cost £1,500 - which a lot for a new business.
"It's nothing to do with the kitchen - the kitchen is spotless."
She added she had not been aware of the rules around keeping up-to-date paperwork around food hygiene, which had also led to the zero rating.
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Mrs Sully said she was arranging for a re-inspection.
"I've explained to my customers and they're all happy," she said. "I haven't lost any customers."
- Slemani restaurant and grill, Corporation Road
Last inspected February 2018, found 'major improvement necessary' in hygienic food handling and management of food safety, and 'improvement necessary in the cleanliness and condition of facilities of the building.
The business could not be reached for comment.
Torfaen:
- Nine Yards cafe, The Parade, Cwmbran
Last inspected January 2019, found 'major improvement necessary' in the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the buildings, and the management of food safety, and 'improvement necessary' in hygienic food handling.
The business could not be reached for comment, but a post on the cafe's Facebook page dated March 1 says it had been closed down to a fault with their boiler, displaying a letter from a council environmental health officer saying there were satisfied “that sufficient measures had been undertaken to secure the health risk” identified in the inspection.
- Premier Stores, Edlogan Square, Croesyceiliog
Last inspected September 2017, found 'major improvement necessary' in the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the buildings, and the management of food safety, and 'improvement necessary' in hygienic food handling.
In January the director of the company running the shop, Rashid Iqbal, was found guilty of failing to protect food from a risk of contamination, failing to ensure garages where food was stored were pest-proofed, and failing to put in place procedures to control pests.
He was fined £4,250 and ordered to pay costs to Torfaen County Borough Council, which brought the prosecution after it was found rats had chewed through packaging in the garage and had been eating food such as cornflakes, as well as leaving urine and droppings, of £2,635.05, as well as a £130 victim surcharge.
The business could not be reached for comment.
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Caerphilly:
- Neil's General Stores, Blackwood Road, Pontllanfraith
Last inspected January 2019, found 'urgent improvement necessary' in the management of food safety, and 'improvement necessary' in the hygienic handling of food, the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the buildings.
The business could not be reached for comment.
Blaenau Gwent:
- Ambala restaurant, Station Road, Waunlwyd, Ebbw Vale
Last inspected October 2018, found 'major improvement necessary' on all three inspection categories - the hygienic handling of food, the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the buildings, and the management of food safety.
The business did not respond to request for comment from the Argus.
- Golden Palace takeaway, Beaufort Street, Brynmawr
Last inspected October 2018, found 'major improvement necessary' on all three inspection categories - the hygienic handling of food, the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the buildings, and the management of food safety.
The business could not be reached for comment.
Monmouthshire:
- There are no businesses in Monmouthshire with a zero food hygiene rating.
Food hygiene ratings can be found at http://ratings.food.gov.uk/search-a-local-authority-area/en-gb/Wales
All information was correct as of Wednesday, March 13.
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