A popular city centre restaurant was hit with a one star food hygiene rating after inspectors raised concerns.
Maggie Fu in Hanover Street was awarded the second lowest hygiene rating following an inspection in January. The inspection found major improvement was necessary in the management of food safety at the city centre venue while improvement was also required in the hygienic handling of food at the restaurant.
The owners of Maggie Fu insist that they have gone to "extreme measures" and a "massive cost" to get the issues mentioned in the report fixed within days of the inspection.
The ECHO has received a copy of the full inspection report from Liverpool City Council which recorded the examiner's findings during the inspection on January 12 of this year.
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The report found containers of raw chicken were stored next to a cooling rack and utensil wash sink, when all raw meats should be stored separately.
Responding, Maggie Fu said all staff have been retrained on how things should be stored correctly.
The report also raised the issue of cooked foods being stored at ambient temperatures for long periods, which it said can allow for the growth of harmful bacteria and toxins, which cannot be destroyed when reheated and can result in food poisoning. It states this issue was also raised at a previous inspection in 2021.
Maggie Fu said it has now introduced blast chillers in its kitchen as per the recommendation from the inspectors. These were installed three days after the visit.
The inspectors also told the restaurant to replace worn chopping boards and to fix gaps and holes found around the window in the raw meat preparation area which could allow pests entry into the kitchen. The restaurant said these issues have been rectified.
In terms of structural issues raised, inspectors found waste water leaking from a sink and grease build up on the surface of the cooking range. The pipe has now been replaced.
Food businesses in Liverpool are routinely inspected by local authority hygiene teams. A health officer will look at three criteria when inspecting a premises. These include how hygienically the food is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored, the cleanliness, layout, lighting and ventilation of the building and how the business manages what it does to make sure food is safe.
Each establishment receives their rating following an inspection conducted by a food safety officer from the council. A rating of zero means urgent improvement is necessary, one means major improvement is required while two means improvement is needed. A rating of three means the premises is generally satisfactory, four is good and five is very good.
Maggie Fu has another Liverpool premises in Smithdown Road, which is currently rated as three for hygiene.
In its full response to the issues raised in the inspection, a spokesperson for Maggie Fu said: "Following the inspection the EHO did say to us that outside of the cooling issue we would be at least a 4 star but probably a 5. Also noting cleanliness to be of that standard.
"As an independent family run business we feel the pain directly when things are not exactly as they should be and went to extreme measures including a massive cost to get the issues fixed within days of the inspection.
"We’ve grown this business from four employees in 2018 to around 75 employees today, we are still learning everyday during this growth and are constantly adding expertise to help our business operate correctly. We understand the cooling issue and have now rectified and learned from this issue.
"We have had our changes made since the inspection reviewed by a independent 3rd party food hygiene company, who have signed them off and are happy we are now compliant.
"We did not have to request a revisit, especially as this is already in the public domain and we are already dealing with the fall out of having a low hygiene rating, however we have at cost requested this to be done. "
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