A COWLEY Road supermarket has been criticised by hygiene inspectors after food and drink was left exposed to rodents and pests.

Euro Supermarket was given a one star rating when Oxford City Council environmental health officers visited in February.

Officers discovered a number of problems, including raw meat being stored near ready to eat foods, confusion over the sell-by dates of smoked meat, and the lack of a food safety management system.

The inspectors’ report read: “You must not store any food or drink in the yard as they are exposed to pests.

“The bathroom window must be closed at night to avoid allowing rodents and pests in.”

It added: “Food must not be stored on the floor of the walk-in fridge or freezer to avoid contamination and to allow adequate cleaning.

“Raw meat must be stored separately or below ready to eat products in the fridges and freezers to avoid cross contamination.

“The label pins for the meat and cheese must be sanitised before they are put into the products

The Polish supermarket was given a list of improvements to make, some immediately but others such as structural cleaning need to be carried out by the middle of next month.

Inspectors rated the restaurant ‘fair’ when it came to food hygiene and safety and structural compliance but they had ‘little’ confidence in management.

They said: “There was confusion over dates for open products, especially items re-wrapped for sale on the shelves and the deli counter smoked meats.

“If you open a product, you must follow the instructions on the label, which should tell you how long the product is safe for.”

Inspectors also demanded that all staff gain a level two qualification in food hygiene and provided information on available courses.

“There is no food safety management system in place - this is important for two reasons – it shows how you store, prepare and serve safe food and acts as part of your due diligence defence if something were to go wrong.”

A number of structural problems were also identified, though the management were given until May 13 to fix them.

The inspectors said: “Fix the light to the toilet and walk-in freezer, repair or replace any broken floor tiles and clear the cavity to the rear of the shop near the toilet as discussed.

“Ensure you check the temperatures of all the fridges and freezers daily - these should be recorded."

Euro Supermarket could not be reached for comment.