Food hygiene ratings: Portsmouth businesses respond to inspections

50 businesses in Portsmouth currently have a rating of one – the second lowest available – for their food hygiene.

You can read the full list here.

Businesses are rated for their level of hygiene food handling (cooking, cooling and storage etc), cleanliness and condition of facilities and buildings (layout, ventilation, hand-washing etc), and management of food safety (are systems and checks in place?).

A rating of 1 means major improvement is necessary and is the second lowest rating after 0 – meaning urgent improvement is necessary. Businesses are given a rating of between 0 and 5.

Ahead of publication The News attempted to contact the businesses on the list to ask if they would like to give a response to their rating.

Here are the responses we have received:

A manager for Kuku in Elm Grove said that the business had been taken over in March 2019, following the last food hygiene inspection in August 2018. He said that a new inspection was expected soon.

Katie Barker, manager at The Cream Tearooms in Albert Road, said the rating was given because paperwork concerning food hygiene had not been filled out. She added that she was ‘extremely shocked’ to have received the low rating, and said that extra training had been given to staff before the next inspection.

Alison Lang, manager at Cosham Court care home, said: ‘In the past, Cosham Court have had Good and Excellent food hygiene ratings.

‘Cosham Court were in the process of upgrading the flooring and equipment in the kitchen when the home was inspected in January 2019. All the work has been completed and Cosham Court have paid for a re-visit to review the food hygiene rating, and we are confident that a re-inspection will award Cosham Court the food hygiene rating that has been accredited in the past.