E7 Now & Then: Food hygiene in Forest Gate; the good, the bad and the urgh

Newham has recently joined the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), under which all premises selling, or processing food for public consumption are inspected, and awarded a Food Hygiene rating certificate.

Inspected premises are encouraged (although not compelled) to publicly display their star rating score. Many choose not to, and in some cases, as will be seen, for obvious reasons. A bit of compulsion here would be much more reassuring for the public, and apply pressure for improvement. Not a priority for the laissez faire government we have, apparently.

Approximately 150 premises in Forest Gate have been tested and their ratings appear on the Food Standards Association (FSA) website
We will be presenting these results over three postings, with a photo, details of the ratings and time of the last inspection accompanying each.

This week we start with food shops, the scores of some of which are frankly more eye watering than mouth watering. In following weeks we will look at schools, social care institutions and finally restaurants and hotels.

Food premises are accorded between 0 and 5 stars for their premises, depending on how they score against standards set by public health officers, in three categories. They take account of:
- how hygienically the food is handled
- the conditions and structures of the premises (including cleanliness); and
- how effectively the business manages is records relating to food safety.

A top score of 5 will mean that the business performs well on all three criteria.

A score of zero, that they perform poorly on all three. Persistent zeros or scores of 1 can result in a premises being closed down. In extreme cases of poor hygiene standards, an inspector can close down dirty premises, with no warning.

Scores of between 1 and 4 are, as they sound, grades, which will reflect how well the premises score, overall, against all criteria. They could be excellent on two and poor on one, for example and get a score of 2 or 3, or simply mediocre on all three criteria and get a similar score.

The records relating to Forest Gate are very patchy, in terms of the comprehensiveness of the cover, and the range of results emerging. We would estimate that upwards of 50 per cent of local food-related premises have yet to receive a certificate - for example a cluster of premises around the Forest Station (Forest Tavern, the Fox and Hounds, the Co-op, Kaffine, Artemis -coffee stand) are without scores. Their time will come, as the inspection programme is rolled out.

Anyone wishing to get fuller details of the condition of any premises mentioned below can obtain a full copy of the relevant inspection report, via an FOI, to Newham Council.

The results are presented in street alphabetical order, and then in numerical order. The date given is of the latest inspection.