Wolverhampton restaurant received zero hygiene rating as staff had 'little or no training in food hygiene'

Classic Shawarma, in Queen Street, Wolverhampton, was rated a zero out of five following a hygiene inspection on June 22.

The zero rating means 'urgent improvement necessary', and now the full report has been obtained from a FOI (freedom of information) request.

The report states that the restaurant had previously been rated four out of five, and had good standards but now "it was disappointing to see that the good standards in place at the time of the rating had been dropped."

The full report is as follows from the inspector: "It was disappointing to note that despite a completed Safer Food Better Business pack being available at the time of your previous inspection, this pack was no longer present or being completed. Staff were not aware of its existence.

"It became quite apparent during my inspection that the food handlers had little or no training in food hygiene.

"It is a legal requirement to have in place a documented food safety management system e.g. Safer Food Better Business, which details the procedures in place at the premises to ensure the safety of the food being prepared and sold to customers.

"I was advised that the temperature of the fridges and freezers are checked using the digital read outs on a daily basis. These checks, along with other opening/closing checks were not however being recorded.

"I was provided with a fridge temperature book - however, this had not been completed since 2020 (the time of the previous inspection).

"When checks were made using the probe thermometer, the temperature of the fridge was found to be at around 18 degrees celsius. Foods being stored within a fridge must be kept at a temperature of 8 degrees celsius or below.

"There was no soap or hand towel at the wash hand basin within the rear preparation room.

"The lack of adequate cleaning materials would indicate that food handlers were not effectively washing their hands, despite food being handled.

"The back door which leads to a piece of waste land was propped open which provided access by pests into the premises.

"The level of knowledge demonstrated by food handlers in regard to allergens was very poor to non-existent in that they were unable to provide any information regarding what allergens were contained in products, or knew how to check."

The damning report states that the business must make the changes recommended by the inspector by a certain date which was blanked by Wolverhampton Council in the report issued.

Saami Alfadlii, owner of Classic Shawarma said: "Since the zero rating we have taken on board everything that was pointed out to us.

"We have made all the changes that were pointed out. We have done a deep clean in the whole shop to make it a lot cleaner, and have trained staff so they are up to date with hygiene training and allergy training.

"Everything that the first inspector pointed out has been fixed, and we have had a second inspection just a few days ago where they said we will be receiving a new updated hygiene rating in the coming weeks."