Revealed: 80 breaches of food laws in college kitc

Lepapillon0311 · 发表于 2006-1-24 22:46:53

By Roger Waite Caroline Cohen
 
 Students and dons were put at risk by 80 breaches of food safety legislation in college kitchens last year, The Oxford Student has learnt. Rats around Christ Church’s kitchen bins, mould growth at Worcester and a lack of proper measures to prevent high risk cooked food from being cooled properly at St John’s are just a few of the litany of complaints emerging from documents obtained by The Oxford Student under the Freedom of Information Act.
 
 Inspectors noted 18 serious breaches, with worst offending colleges St John’s, Worcester and Wolfson, committing 27 contraventions between them, including six serious contraventions. Just eight kitchens: Balliol, Mansfield, Merton, Rewley House, Somerville, St Anne’s, St Catherine’s and the University canteen at Wellington Square totally escaped food safety inspectors’ criticism, having no breaches of the regulations.
 
 At St John’s, a faulty blast chiller, one of nine contraventions in the main kitchen, meant that high risk cooked food could not be cooled within 90 minutes, a requirement of the Food Safety Regulations designed to prevent the growth of poisonous bacteria. Dons were put at risk by the college’s SCR Kitchen, which was criticised for leaving food uncovered for over an hour and a half before lunch.
 
 The inspector notes: “several flies that had been attracted to the uncovered food were also evident.” The college’s domestic office had no knowledge of the results of the inspections. The Principal Bursar’s Secretary was not aware of them either but said: “It is likely that whoever is responsible would not have any comment to make anyway”. Worcester was criticised for its poor kitchen cleaning and a dry store room “affected by condensation and mould growth”.
 
 Inspectors also found fresh pastries past their use by date. Worcester’s Domestic Bursar, Steve Dyer said all the recommendations of the inspection, carried out in March 2005, have been dealt with. “The environmental officer who subsequently visited to check the work/changes to procedures was content with this work and the procedural changes.” Nine breaches of legislation were found during the inspection at Wolfson College in October last year, two of them serious.
 
 The report discovered high risk foods, such as beef and lamb, were frequently being served below 63 degrees centigrade, the minimum temperature to avoid the growth of poisonous bacteria. The college’s freezer had also been running at four degrees above the minimum temperature required by law.
 
 University College’s Domestic Bursar, Christine Whareham, refused to comment on the college’s inspection report, carried out in June last year, which noted, “grease dripping from the extractor canopy”, and a failure to date frozen food. The report also advised that the college provide more hygiene training for its staff. Christ Church’s most recent inspection, carried out in December 2004, commented on the rats attracted to the open refuse bins in the rear yard.
 
 In a letter of January 2005, the college were told that they needed to rectify the problem in order to stop attracting the rodents. It is not known whether the college have acted upon the report’s recommendations. Student Union vice-president for welfare Aidan Randle- Conde was very concerned by the number of breaches of legislation. He said: “Colleges have a responsibility to look out for students’ interests, and a responsibility to do it as cheaply as possible.
 
 “They are not living up to their responsibilities.” Randle-Conde also urged students to, “be aware of what they’re eating”, before adding, “Obviously colleges have a monopoly on what food is served. It’s expensive and alarmist to tell students to eat out”.
 
 Neil Bacon, a member of the council’s inspection team, told The Oxford Student that many Oxford colleges have spent a large amount of money on kitchen improvements in recent years and that, “a lot of the old structural problems have disappeared. “A number of colleges’ procedures and food safety systems really are exceptional”, he added.
 
 Since Worcester College’s inspection in March 2005 the main food storeroom has been completely renovated and a new walk-in refrigerator has been purchased and installed. Some colleges received glowing reports from the Food Safety inspectors. They were, “highly confident” in the management of St Anne’s College and considered very few consumers to be at risk there.
 
 Speaking to The Oxford Student, Martin Jackson, the college’s Domestic Bursar said: “We have very regular internal inspections and our Catering Manager completed the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s Advanced Food Hygiene Certificate, organised by Oxford City Council’s EH Department, in 2004.
 
 Similarly, the two university canteens in the main offices in Wellington Square and the Continuing Education Department at Rewley House both received positive reports with no breaches of Food Safety legislation and, “High standards of food preparation”. St Catherine’s College was also considered to have a kitchen with, “excellent food safety standards and systems”, according to an inspection under the 1990 Food Safety Act.
 
 The college’s Home Bursar James Bennett told The Oxford Student: “Food safety is a matter of considerable concern to us as a college, and particularly so for my members of staff who have a responsibility for the kitchens. The quality and standards set are jealously guarded by our professional kitchen team.
 
 Michael Wender, Head Chef at Merton College, another of the colleges with no breaches, welcomed the news that his kitchen ranked extremely highly for cleanliness, “I’m pleased about it, hopefully all the other college kitchens rate highly too”. The Oxford Student contacted all the colleges with breaches of legislation and asked whether the problems noted by the inspection teams had been remedied.
 
 As well as Worcester College, Keble, St Hilda’s and Trinity confirmed that they have since been given a clean bill of health by the council. No other colleges responded before the paper went to press. In addition to inspecting college kitchens, Oxford City Council’s safety team also liaises with college ball committees to ensure that the food served at Oxford balls is of sufficient quality.
 
 Neil Bacon told The Oxford Student that in general, the team has no problems with college balls: “Since many balls are catered for by specialist companies, the rare problems are more often caused by an inexperienced caterer not making allowances for food preparation in the dark than any serious breaches of legislation.” The Oxford Student has seen inspection reports for balls at Univ, Wadham, Worcester, Keble and Balliol.
 
 Other than noting that salads at Univ ball were being prepared out of the back of a van, the inspectors gave all the balls a clean report. The documents, released to The Oxford Student under the Freedom of Information Act, explain the breaches of either the Food Safety Act (1990) or the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations (1995) as noted by food safety inspectors in the past thirteen months.
 
 The newspaper has obtained the most recent inspection report for 26 college and departmental kitchens. Each report gives a summary of the inspection as well as a schedule of contraventions and written advice for the college. Many of the breaches have since been rectified, as most colleges are only inspected every one or two years.
 
 However when inspectors return to the kitchens, they do not do a full safety check but simply ensure that where breaches of legislation previously occurred, the college is now compliant. Bacon stressed that these follow up inspections do not have the scope of the mandatory annual or bi-annual inspection: “The regular inspection is more important in the government’s eyes.”

viewsnake · 发表于 2006-2-10 10:31:30

good story

Lepapillon0311 · 发表于 2006-7-13 23:32:12

TKS. :)

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Revealed: 80 breaches of food laws in college kitc

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