Popular doesn’t mean safe

There’s lots of popular food places. They might even make great food. Doesn’t mean that they know how to do food safety.

According to Wales Online, a popular chippy (one of my favorite UK terms) received a zero on their hygiene rating. Zero isn’t good. Unless the scale is -1 to zero. But it isn’t in Wales. Environmental health folks rate businesses on a scale from zero-5. 

The Fryery, in Rumney , was ranked at number nine on hungryhouse’s list after the online food ordering platform unveiled the list as part of its annual Most Loved Takeaway awards in April. 

But an inspection on November 20 handed the shop a zero rating meaning “urgent improvement” is necessary.

The Cardiff takeaway, which is located in Newport Road, is run by Kash Amin.

Mr Amin, who started working at his family’s takeaway at the age of 11 in 1988, has continued working in and running takeaways ever since – including Victor’s in Newport . 

Mr Amin said he was unhappy with the process of food hygiene rating inspections and said he had now paid £150 to appeal the decision.

Here’s the rating, doesn’t say much about the specifics of what was wrong. I wish more jurisdictions, including Wales, posted the entire inspection. The summary leaves a lot to assumptions.

This entry was posted in Food Safety Policy, Handwashing and tagged , , by Ben Chapman. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ben Chapman

Dr. Ben Chapman is a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. As a teenager, a Saturday afternoon viewing of the classic cable movie, Outbreak, sparked his interest in pathogens and public health. With the goal of less foodborne illness, his group designs, implements, and evaluates food safety strategies, messages, and media from farm-to-fork. Through reality-based research, Chapman investigates behaviors and creates interventions aimed at amateur and professional food handlers, managers, and organizational decision-makers; the gate keepers of safe food. Ben co-hosts a biweekly podcast called Food Safety Talk and tries to further engage folks online through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, maybe not surprisingly, Pinterest. Follow on Twitter @benjaminchapman.