A South Tyneside golf club is furious after the wrong food hygiene inspection result was published on the Food Standards Agency website stating it had a one star rating when it had actually received five stars.
Whitburn Golf Club on Lizard Lane was awarded a five star rating following an inspection by South Tyneside Council in March of this year. However, a mistake by tjhe council saw their result appear as a one star rating on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.
Clubhouse manager Karen Finlayson said she was only alerted to the error after receiving calls from concerned customers who had read a Chronicle Live story about low food hygiene ratings in the North East. She quickly contacted the FSA to find out what happened and was told it was the result of an error.
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"I already had a five rating and they gave me a five straight back," Karen said. "I said to them, 'where did you get the one from?' They said they would have to come back to me.
"They rang the next day to say that they must apologise about that because it was an error. They didn't know what happened but said they would correct it on the FSA website and change it back to five."
The Food Standards Agency said that the error originated from the incorrect information provided to them by South Tyneside Council. The FSA said it provides the IT system and website supporting the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, but the information that is published is provided by - and the responsibility of - the local councils that carry out the inspections.
Karen said received a letter of apology from South Tyneside Council following her request for acknowledgment of the error. However, the clubhouse manager said the damage had already been done as the business faces daily calls from customers about the incorrect one star rating.
Karen continued: "They don't realise how much damage it has done. I have got people ringing up saying, 'have you only got one star?' It is just ridiculous.
"Somebody phoned up saying, 'I've got a party booked there but you only have a one star rating,' and I said, 'no I haven't, I've got five,' and then had to explain it all again. We have got golfers themselves saying they're not going to eat in here because it's only got a one star rating.
"I have been here a long time and everyone knows me and the standards I put out. It's my reputation on the line because I have been here a long time and everyone knows me."
South Tyneside Council has apologised to the club for the mistake which it said was caused by an "administrative error." A council spokesman said: “The incorrect recording of a low rating was the result of an administrative error. We offer our sincere apologies to the club for this.
"As soon as this matter came to light, we updated our records and the system now shows that the club has been rated as five. We will also ensure that our data entry procedures are reviewed to mitigate a similar incident occurring again.”
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