Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Most local councils including Southwark Council submit their food safety ratings into a system called Scores on the Doors.


Food inspectors visit premises at least every 6-36 months depending on risk and stars out of 5 are recorded in the system. More stars equal cleaner and safer practices.


You can get FREE Android and Apple apps to have access to this while on the move and help you decide whether you think a premises inspected hygiene is good enough for you and your family. I've found it eye opening. The more people use these scores the more businesses will take note and ensure they are clean. Some might even want to get reinspected.

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/19788-food-safety-get-the-app/
Share on other sites

I've never really understood this. Does/has anyone ever use this to decide on where to eat? Or avoided somewhere because of a low score. Surely the only criteria when deciding on where to eat is the food (and associates like cost and atmosphere).


For instance, Gourmet Burger Kitchen gets 5 stars. Frankly , you'd have to pay me to eat their shoddy burgers. Meanwhile the East Dulwich Deli only gets 1 star. No doubt unpasteurised French cheese is frowned upon by inspectors. Yet I will continue to eat their lovely products with a smile on my face.

Hi david_carnell and Jeremy,

I sympathise with you but why can't all East Dulwich businesses achieve a better food safety/hygiene rating and still remain great places but with less risk of poisoning you?


The point is get the APP and then make informed choices.

Ask your favourite establishments why they scored badly if they did.

Nanny state, nanny state James.


We are all qualified to judge food quality and don't need the council to do the job for us. I am in full agreement (unusually!) with D-C and Jeremy. Stop the surveys, cut the website and reduce the cost of the council. Our taste buds, eyes and noses will usually provideall the guidance needed.


I can recall staying at a very comfortable and friendly farmhouse B&B - which had just been told it must either set up a separate kitchen and breakfast room or close down by similarly concerned council staff. The council alleged that by eating my breakfast in a farmhouse kitchen where there was a dog basket, a dog roaming around and the tea towels drying on top of the Aga guests were "at risk". Absolute cobblers - it's my choice where I eat, not the councils.


They closed down - a great loss to walkers and climbers, as well as a financial loss to the farmer and his wife.

I've never felt sick after eating something from the ED Deli but definitely suffered after meals at establishments with higher ratings. Why would that be? Perhaps because it depends on exactly what the failing is and where in the process the trouble occurs. The star ratings are too simplistic for that.


I'm all for inspectors checking kitchens for contaminated/illegal meat but let it stop there.


Oh, and a few dogs hairs never did anyone any harm.

Hi Marmora Man,

The example you've given is where you could see and judge food hygiene and what's inside fridges.

But your example is rare.

Vast majority of food establishments you can;t see if the practices are safe, kitchen clean, fridge sane. The Scores on the Doors is not perfect but it does encourage better practices if used with a modicum of common sense.

I'm torn here. Agree with MM that some of the regulations are ludicrous. Had a friend who run a pub in west norwood, and used to put out lovely hot snacks for people to enjoy (free) with their beer. She was threatened with closure because she was doing this out of her kitchen upstairs, not a commercial kitchen. Stupid!


However, however much I enjoyed the food somewhere, I think I'd be put off if I found out it was being prepared in some dirty minging kitchen, especially if I was paying a hefty price for it.

James Barber Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Most local councils including Southwark Council

> submit their food safety ratings into a system

> called Scores on the Doors.


James, I think this whole post is very misleading to say the least.


The Scores on the Doors system is not a definitive measure of judging food safety by any means. Its as bad as the recycling fiasco we have already. There have been many criticisms of this scheme (and others across the country,surprise surprise, all have different criteria to the other), including the complexity of the star ratings. What's the difference exactly for places that have 2 stars to those that have 3 stars? Why not a simple pass or fail? If there's got to be a system of measurement for standards, some consistency and fairness is needed.


The sort of people that need an app for this and who rely on these so-called scores fill me with despair. Can't people think for themselves anymore? Of course I'm not suggesting that places shouldn't be expected to have standards of cleanliness but if those across the industry don't have faith in this system, how can we be expected to?


I think there's anecdotal evidence of places getting marked down for something as ridiculous as not 'upgrading' their kitchen equipment which hasn't got a bearing on cleanliness.


Pretty sure there was a thread on here that showed how useless the 'results' actually were.


> Food inspectors visit premises at least every 6-36

> months depending on risk and stars out of 5 are

> recorded in the system. More stars equal cleaner

> and safer practices.

>

> You can get FREE Android and Apple apps to have

> access to this while on the move and help you

> decide whether you think a premises inspected

> hygiene is good enough for you and your family.

> I've found it eye opening. The more people use

> these scores the more businesses will take note

> and ensure they are clean. Some might even want to

> get reinspected.

Food posioning is absolutely brutal, and I'm keen to avoid


But given how much I eat in all of the badly rated restaurants, you would think there would be correlation between rating and illness, no?


That there isn't (for me or anyone in my group) suggests the ratings are not helpful.

StraferJack Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Food posioning is absolutely brutal, and I'm keen

> to avoid

>

> But given how much I eat in all of the badly rated

> restaurants, you would think there would be

> correlation between rating and illness, no?

>

> That there isn't (for me or anyone in my group)

> suggests the ratings are not helpful.


I'd go as far to suggest that the ratings are worse than simply 'not helpful'; they're downright misleading and thus have the potential to be very damaging to both customers and businesses alike.


(And thanks Otto)

But James, a single number is absolutely meaningless. An establishment may be spotless but if the owner doesn't have a properly documented record of his practices he is going to get a bad rating. No paperwork is not the same as dangerous food. A dirty kitchen floor isn't dangerous (for the consumer) until food comes into contact with it. No contact and there's no stomach upset but you'll still get a bad rating if the inspector sees grime underfoot. A spotless kitchen may pass the test on the day of inspection but if the owner has a variable attitude to food sourcing the ingredients could be a killer in a 'perfect' establishment.

James,


Can the food standards agency prove the improvement in Public Health? I "believe" there is no correlation.


The logical extension of your argument is for every household to be inspected and for dinner party guests to check the scores on the doors before eating with friends.

James Barber Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi peterstorm1985,

> The logical conclusion your suggesting is no

> inspections.

> The Food Safety Agency believes it has evidence

> such inspections have improved public health.


The logical conclusion is that inspections should continue to highlight those establishments that are inherently dangerous - using condemned meat, cockroach infestation etc, but not for Southwark to expect us to all get excited that a fast food outlet selling deep fried artery clogging muck has a higher food safety rating than a shop or restaurant selling food that might actually have a few vitamins.

If you want a system that is actually of use then it needs to have more detail.

This is exactly the sort of nanny state project that has caused the financial mess our country is in. Of dubious benefit, of marginal importance, doubtless at considerable cost.


It really hacks me off when my hard-earned money is spent on stuff like this. We've got a huge public debt to pay off James, let's cut rubbish like this out.



I've had many hairs of the dog over the years and felt much better afterwards.


I did a search on the now defunct Dos Amigos. I was interested in seeing their rating but nothing there. It's not too long ago someone reported here seeing a rat wandering around inside.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • The SE22 Evri delivery family are lovely, and always say hello wherever we spot them in the area. We gave them a box of chocolates during Covid as they were working their socks off at Christmas
    • What was he doing on the stage at Glastonbury? Or on the stage at the other concert in Finsbury Park? Grinning like a Cheshire cat whilst pissed and stoned 20 somethings on the promise of free internet sung-- Oh Jeremy Corbyn---  What were his policies for Northern mining towns with no jobs or infrastructure? Free Internet and university places for youngsters. What were his other manifesto pledges? Why all the ambiguity over Brexit?  I didn't like Thatcher, Blair or May or Tony but I respected them as politicians because they stood by what they believed in. I respect all politicians across the board that stick to their principles. Corbyn didn't and its why he got  annihilated at the polls. A socialist, anti imperialist and anti capitalist that said he voted for an imperialist and pro capitalist cabal. He refused to say how he'd vote over and over again until the last knockings. He did so to appease the Islington elite and middle class students he was courting. The same people that were screaming that Brexit was racist. At the same time the EU were holding black and Asian immigrants in refugee camps overseas but not a word on that! Corbyn created and courted a student union protest movement that screamed at and shouted down anyone not on the left . They claimed Starmer and the centre right of labour were tories. He didn't get elected  because he, his movement and policies were unelectable, twice. He turned out not to have the convictions of his politics and died on his own sword.    Reform won't win an election. All the idiots that voted for them to keep out Labour actually enabled Labour. They'll be back voting tory next time.    Farage wouldn't be able to make his millions if he was in power. He's a very devious shyster but I very much doubt he'd actually want the responsibility that governance requires.
    • The purge of hard left members that were part of Corbyn's, Mcdonnel's and Lansmans momentum that purged the party of right wing and centrist members. That's politics. It's what Blair did to win, its what Starmer had to do to win. This country doesn't vote in extreme left or right governments. That's partly why Corbyn lost  We're pretty much a centrist bunch.  It doesn't make it false either. It's an opinion based on the voting patterns, demography and statistics. Can you explain then why former mining constituencies that despise the tories voted for them or abstained rather than vote for Corbyns Labour?  What is the truth then? But he never got elected!!! Why? He should have been binned off there and then. Why he was allowed to hang about is an outrage. I hold him party responsible for the shit show that we've had to endure since. 
    • Depends on what the Barista says doesnt it? There was no physical confrontation with the driver, OP thinks she is being targetted when she isnt. These guys work min wage under strict schedules so give them a break unless they damage your stuff
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...