Scores On The Doors

[Chelsea14Ian]

The King's arms South Walsham,has only a zero re scores on the doors.When are these people  going to get there act together. Won't be going there until scores improve 

[smellyloo]

As I don't know what the scores on the doors mean or how and when assessments are made I will continue to try the establishments before I make judgements,

I really don't want some oik in a suit telling me what is or is not good for me!

 

[Labrador]

Scores on the doors are food hygiene ratings, zero is diabolical. It basically means records aren't up to date, food storage temperature records are not kept, food prep areas are not satisfactory. It means urgent action is required. The said establishment has had poor ratings for a long time, so they don't appear to have any interest in improving the situation.

[JawsOrca]

Shame .. looks like they invested lots in the website.. perhaps they are new and visited as they was starting up.

[JawsOrca]

14 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

The King's arms South Walsham,has only a zero re scores on the doors.When are these people  going to get there act together. Won't be going there until scores improve 

We ate in there last year.. must admit the food was really really good (Chinese is our favourite and we eat in lots of places). Service was good.. Yeah it's a bit tatty inside but it was really good food and we are still alive.. Obviously I have all faith in food inspectors but I wonder if the owners upset people then scores are adjusted.. Surely if it's that bad it would be closed down.

[Bound2Please]

7 minutes ago, JawsOrca said:

 Obviously I have all faith in food inspectors but I wonder if the owners upset people then scores are adjusted.. Surely if it's that bad it would be closed down.

Think you may have hit the nail on the head there Alan

Charlie

[Labrador]

There seems to be a grey area between  the ratings and actually  having mouse droppings, mould, etc. I think if they ignore it long enough some sort of inforcment would result. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

I have said many times the scores are marked in the same for everyone.The way food is stored cooked and served,the management  record keeping this refers to temp records.For example from when the food arrives to fridges prepared cooked and served.So if I wish to see when a piece of chicken  arrives can I truce it along the way until it's served.If not you will be marked down. I believe  where restaurants  cafes pub etc get such a low Mark this is how it happens.And the third score is the fabric of the building.I would be surprised  if there still trading.If you get a zero you MUST make improvements  before you can do so.As I have said before it is not to hard to get at least a four  stars.The scores  on the doors  is for customers  to see.I would like it to be a legal requirement to display. My company  along with others have outside independent  inspectors who check each unit and mark us .Believe  me  they don't hold back.

[Poppy]

 

2 hours ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

I have said many times the scores are marked in the same for everyone.The way food is stored cooked and served,the management  record keeping this refers to temp records.For example from when the food arrives to fridges prepared cooked and served.So if I wish to see when a piece of chicken  arrives can I truce it along the way until it's served.If not you will be marked down. I believe  where restaurants  cafes pub etc get such a low Mark this is how it happens.And the third score is the fabric of the building.I would be surprised  if there still trading.If you get a zero you MUST make improvements  before you can do so.As I have said before it is not to hard to get at least a four  stars.The scores  on the doors  is for customers  to see.I would like it to be a legal requirement to display. My company  along with others have outside independent  inspectors who check each unit and mark us .Believe  me  they don't hold back.

Chelsea, couldn't agree more. Time after time folks 'diss' these ratings seemingly because they have seen an adverse score applied to an establishment which they like or use . I'm afraid I just don't understand this attitude, the inspectors are doing a job for the benefit of us all.

[JawsOrca]

1 hour ago, Poppy said:

 

Chelsea, couldn't agree more. Time after time folks 'diss' these ratings seemingly because they have seen an adverse score applied to an establishment which they like or use . I'm afraid I just don't understand this attitude, the inspectors are doing a job for the benefit of us all.

Poppy.. I do agree with what me pops said, but as per the last discussion we had on this, I'm really along the line of.. surely it's good or bad.. as far as we know a Zero means it's still safe but just not very very very very very safe?! that doesn't make much sense.. Also I'm a bit surprised by some ratings... surely people can't be that ignorant 2 or 3 years on a row.. if they are then they should be closed down.. not given this strange rating.. I'm all for food hygiene, I'm worst that my dad in some things. I think this scheme is good but it needs a bit of tweaking.. and yes the rating should be visible.. 

[SteveO]

Last I saw, the lease for the Kings Arms, S Walsham was up for sale . Perhaps the restaurant operators couldn't afford to make the sort of changes that the health inspectors required or didn't want to invest, given uncertainty about the future of their business.

Steve

[Poppy]

53 minutes ago, JawsOrca said:

Poppy.. I do agree with what me pops said, but as per the last discussion we had on this, I'm really along the line of.. surely it's good or bad.. as far as we know a Zero means it's still safe but just not very very very very very safe?! that doesn't make much sense.. Also I'm a bit surprised by some ratings... surely people can't be that ignorant 2 or 3 years on a row.. if they are then they should be closed down.. not given this strange rating.. I'm all for food hygiene, I'm worst that my dad in some things. I think this scheme is good but it needs a bit of tweaking.. and yes the rating should be visible.. 

Jaws, a zero certainly means rather more than " still safe, but not very very very very very safe " , in fact it means not at all safe !!  

https://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/hygiene-rating-schemes/ratings-find-out-more-en/fhrs

 

I agree, they certainly should be shut down! I most certainly not patronise any establishment that was not scoring at least a 3.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Two out of three are easy to manage.Food safety is a must and costs next to nothing to gain and maintain.Also the management,this is record keeping.The one that costs is the fabric of the building.However if the state of the building needs works,but the other two are good you should get a four starMy advice to any one that gets a poor score is to talk to them for advice,they will give you pointers how to improve and do so as soon as possible.

[SweetKingfisher1]

After my 30 years in catering and the word inspectors, it would bring a chill to all working in the catering trade . Ok that was around 40years ago. In this day and age for catering and any establishment selling food we now have the "Scores on the doors" and it is great to see the scores they have been given for the hygiene and standard of the establishments. 

Now if I saw a restaurant or shop with a zero score, that tells me to keep a wide beth. 

There are people thinking to open and sell food is easy, but they forget about the standards.

Regards

Marina  

[JawsOrca]

I'm still not sold on these things.. it seems like its given an excuse for poor exercises or given the operators a second chance.. if it's poor.. close the bloody thing down and only allow it to be open when it's good. (I thought that's what the inspectors do anyway)

I agree any restaurant should only be open if it's good, not "well it's poor but we are given them a chance", that's worst...

[JennyMorgan]

The quandary is a simple one and I'll give an example. My wife and I went to Bungay the other day, gosh, those fish and chips were good, we thoroughly enjoyed them as we wandered along the street street peering into shop windows. Then I read the EDP report, their rating was either one or zero, arghhh, why was I still alive?

[kfurbank]

I think eating out is always a little like Russian roulette. It depends on the staff on any given day, how experienced they are, how well trained, how busy they are etc. Going to a place that gets 5 stars gives you far better odds of not getting something nasty than a zero rated place. It also needs to be remembered that not everyone's constitution and immune system is the same. The very young and elderly, those recovering from major illness, pregnant women etc, may well have a far greater chance of catching something nasty. Is it worth the gamble? but more to the point what does it say about the business that they are not striving for better? If they don't care about your health, why should you care about their business by giving them custom.

I often stop at a chippy in Beccles the one in Bungay or one in Eye on the way home from the boat. The one in Ravensmere Beccles fares slightly better at a score of 1. The one in Eye scores 5. Guess which ones are of the list until the scores improve?. I have to be fair and say none have made me ill, but as they all taste as good as each other, and I have the choice of using any of the three, why would I take the chance?

 

[Bound2Please]

We are all becoming molly coddled what ever happened before the days of these scores on the doors... I'll tell you people decided themselves by the food quality service and decor. Did people catch things left right and centre NO THEY DIDNT so whats changed except jobs for the boys and back handers bungs what ever you wish to call it...  I caught food poisoning a few years back when we had the Dog & Pheasant I caught it taking one of our customers back to his ship (he was the captain) the Rover berthed in GY we stopped for breakfast in a 5 star hotel for breakfast I had a sausage sandwich.

I ended up in A&E at colchester before I got back to the pub, it turned out I had a notifiable case of food poisoning I had say what and where I had eaten ... it turned they new about the hotel and was in the process of closing it. I had to stay away from my pub for 5 days....

So tell me now that 5 stars is safe and 1 or zero isnt....

Charlie

[MauriceMynah]

Ok, I have no horror stories of catching something nasty, though when I worked in a large hotel chain, some of the things I did and saw turn my stomach now, but that was in the early 70s. (still, nobody died!)

I do however have some reservations about these hygiene ratings. If I remember correctly a broadland pub had a very low rating. This went to a very high rating on the following inspection. Fair enough, work was done, but this "work done" was to replace the cooker hood extraction unit. Was this really so very dangerous? Did this really warrant an action that damaged the establishments business? or is it possible that in this case, the inspector was a bit of a jobsworth?

I have seen bad practice to the point of national corruption within the interface of business and government bodies in the past, and have great difficulty in trusting such organisations to be fair and even handed, especially where 'favours' can exchange hands. Sometimes this can be down to "Jobsworth" attitudes of the examiner, sometimes it might be because the landlord behaves like an arrogant pig and sneers down to the examiner,

Please believe me, where such an organisation exists, the opportunities for people to start behaving badly exist, and I defy anyone to say it never happens. Even "Rarely happens" pushes my cynicism to the edge. "Doesn't happen a lot" I can accept.

Extreme cases like rat droppings in the kitchen is one thing, but I'm yet to hear of ANYONE being made ill just because proper records were not kept. Here at home we keep no records. We have just one chopping board and the fridge has never been temperature tested. I'm still alive and Frances who's just undergone chemo is also still with us. What would her kitchen get if it were in an hotel?

[kfurbank]

2 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Here at home we keep no records. We have just one chopping board and the fridge has never been temperature tested. I'm still alive and Frances who's just undergone chemo is also still with us. What would her kitchen get if it were in an hotel?

To be fair Maurice, this is said a lot on similar threads as this, however your fridge is probably a domestic one and opened 2 or 3% of the time a fridge in a commercial kitchen is during the course of a working day. You also probably have a pretty good idea of what is in the fridge and when you intend to use it. A commercial kitchen can have multiple shifts making keeping track of what needs using first more difficult unless proper records and rotations methods are used. That stock made and put on the shelf by one chef may still be there when he is back on shift in three days time, without proper hand over and records.

[Chelsea14Ian]

So to go on record keeping  it's simple a chef will label it date it and use by date then placed in the fridge.Its not rocket science. All caterers now are trained how to follow simple record.It does not matter how chefs are working and when food safety  MUST be traced from door to plate.Dont confuse five star with scores on the doors.The first is a review  of food the second  is food safety.Indeed some highly  regarded restaurants have only got 3 or less scores on the doors.And yes in the old days there was little or no inspections.We also had rickets,the black death. Many other nasties thankfully  most places have improved but there's still a long way to go

 

[SteveO]

Perhaps it should be mandatory for food outlets to display their current hygiene rating at each entrance to the premises. That would allow customers to make a properly informed decision and would probably also provide a healthy incentive to proprietors to make improvements where needed.

steve

[Bound2Please]

Every ones goes on here about food hygiene ratings. In pubs, but a pub is in actual fact a Public House for the sale of alcoholic beverages. Not once have I heard mentioned Cellar Hygiene?. There is far more to a good pint that wont give you an upset stomach than just a clean glass. Cellar temperatures yes real ales and kegged need differing temperatures. Then there is pipe cleaning, tap cleaning for starters. Of course how many make sure bungs are clean before they tap and spire a keg?????? do they know why soft bungs and hard bungs? ... Now dont get me started on pipe cleaning.

I feel there is far more concern from bad cellar hygiene than food hygiene, how many have had a bit of an upset tummy and said oh the beer must have been dodgy. No not the beer dodgy but bad cellar hygiene but the same people who moan about food hygiene ratings think nothing about alcohol giving the upset stomach via poor cellar hygiene. 

I rest my case

Charlie  

[MauriceMynah]

Good reason for that Charlie, all the foodies drink is wine. We real ale drinkers have stomachs made of sterner stuff, which is why we can eat in a place with a score of one without dying before we reach the loo.