A BUTCHERS received a one-star hygiene rating following criticism of the storage of raw meat, a broken thermometer and poor hand washing facilities.

Erdem Food Centre is a supermarket and butchers on 236 Cowley Road in Oxford. The shop had an unannounced visit from the Oxford City Council food hygiene inspectors on December 3, 2020.

The shop was given a score of one, meaning that major improvement is necessary.

In the full food hygiene report from Oxford City Council, it is revealed that the butchers were criticised for the storage of raw meat.

The report suggests the freezer appeared to be overstocked and raw meat was stored next to or above what appeared to be ready-to-eat foods. Supervisors at Erdem Food Centre were told by inspectors to ensure these items were separated.

Inspectors found that although there was a hand wash basin there were no hand drying facilities available to the butchers and supervisors were told that drying facilities should be in stock at all times.

There was not any hot water available to the toilet hand wash basin at the time of visit and the seal behind the toilet hand wash basin needed fixing.

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The rear yard of the supermarket and butchers was found to be messy on inspection and supervisors were told to make sure the area was clean within one month.

Some ceiling tiles were not fully in place and concerns were raised that this could allow pests to enter.

On the inspection it was reported that there was little confidence in the management of the butchers.

It was stated that the Safer Food Better Business pack was in use; however, the supervisor at the time of the visit was not aware of this pack or its location.

Similarly, it was stated that the temperatures of deliveries and the fridge/freezer temperatures were recorded daily, but the supervisor at the time of the visit was not aware of these checks being recorded.

When the inspectors asked the butcher to show how he checked the temperature of the display chiller, he said he used a thermometer – but when he showed the inspector the thermometer it was not actually working.

This led the inspector to believe that the temperature had not been checked for at least that day. It was also revealed that checks for food past its use-by date were carried out twice a week, when it should in fact be checked daily as it is a offence to display any food after its use-by date.

Aamir Shehzad, manager of Erdem Food Centre, said that since the initial inspection in December he had been revisited by food hygiene inspectors and the store had taken on board the criticisms. He said: “Now everything is perfect, the butcher’s section is all clean. The hygiene inspector revisited and inspected the whole area and said everything is perfect and clean.”

However, Mr Shehzad did not know if his star rating would go up and said he currently still has one star.