A city dessert and burger shop has been handed a one-star hygiene rating and told it is “failing to comply with the law in many respects”.
Dessert Lounge Norwich, in Aylsham Road, has been threatened with enforcement action by Norwich City Council after food inspectors discovered a range of safety breaches.
However, the eatery's manager has ensured customers swift changes have been made.
The report detailed issues including the use of spatulas for both raw and ready-to-eat foods, dirty utensils being stored in prepared sauces and food found months past its use-by date.
Inspectors, who visited the Mile Cross eatery on January 23, found items including open packets of frankfurters with 'use-by' dates of October 26, 2023.
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Uncovered meat slices with no expiration date were also stored in an uncovered container in a fridge.
Other breaches included food being stored at incorrect temperatures, the presence of faulty equipment and dirty chairs, food containers and extraction filters.
Overall, the inspectors deemed the business to have poor cleaning and sanitation and inadequate staff hygiene training.
Its staff were warned there was a risk of bacteria growing on food and that major improvement was necessary.
A manager - who did not wish to be named - said the necessary changes had been made and the business now had one of the "cleanest kitchens in the area".
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He added: "We have a re-inspection booked and we are confident everything has been sorted out."
The restaurant and takeaway opened in July 2022 and offers savoury food including burgers and hot dogs but focuses on desserts including ice cream sundaes, churros and crepes.
It is open seven days a week between 1pm and 11.30pm, and also offers delivery services.
It averages 2.9 out of five from more than 440 ratings on Just Eat but a more positive 4.4 from more than 140 ratings on Google.
Analysis
Reporting on food hygiene issues at businesses can often prove difficult for newspapers, which are always keen to see local firms thrive.
However, one-star food hygiene ratings riddled with worrying discoveries from inspectors simply have to be brought to the attention of the public.
Today we bring you news of Dessert Lounge Norwich finding itself in trouble with the city council due to a wide range of issues.
Our judgement is that it is an important role of the media to hold businesses to account on matters of public health and will always bring such issues to light.
However, this newspaper is always keen to hear from those at the heart of the matter to ensure that articles are told fairly.
On this occasion, the Mile Cross eatery's manager has assured us that the issues have been fixed swiftly and that a reinspection will soon prove that.
We will be more than happy to report on that turnaround as well when the reinspection is published.
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