A New Brighton restaurant has been given the worst possible food hygiene rating amid worries about food handling and food safety.
Portofino, in Union Terrace in the Wirral seaside town, was given the zero star rating by health inspectors, meaning urgent improvement is necessary. The most serious areas of concern were ‘hygienic food handling’ and ‘management of food safety’, which includes food preparation, storage and safety, among other things.
A spokesperson for the New Brighton restaurant said they believe Portofino's current practices are much better than the zero star rating it got, but that it has dealt with all the issues raised by inspectors and will get a much better rating when it is next inspected.
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The full details of the inspection have not yet been released, but information sent out with the zero star rating showed major improvement was necessary in the areas of hygienic food handling and management of food safety. Hygienic food handling includes preparation, cooking, cooling, reheating and storage.
While management of food safety assesses systems or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.
Concerns in the other area looked at by inspectors, called ‘cleanliness and condition of facilities and building’, were slightly less severe, but inspectors concluded improvement was necessary. This area looked at the layout of the restaurant, its ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control, all of which are important for ensuring good food hygiene.
A spokesperson for Portofino said the restaurant has contested the rating with Wirral Council, as they believe its standards of practice are much higher than a zero star. The spokesperson added: “There were issues raised about how we store food, but there’s no cross-contamination and everything’s fresh.
“We sat down with inspectors and went through all of the relevant documents and all the things we need to do to improve. We’ve dealt with all the issues raised and where improvements were needed we’ve carried them out.
“Everyone with any sort of food handling [responsibility] has been retrained. We’ll definitely get a much better rating [at our next inspection].”
