Browns café in York gets one star food hygiene rating

Brown's cafe and Rhodes restaurant, in the Brown's department store on Davygate, were awarded the food hygiene rating of one star, meaning that major improvements were necessary, following a City of York Council inspection on January 19.

Browns has explained that the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and Brexit has had an impact on staffing issues in the cafe.

• READ MORE: York bar hits out at two star food hygiene rating after five star dummy inspection

Shirley Wells, the catering manager at Browns cafe, said: "We're very disappointed to receive this rating, it is totally out of context and not a reflection of the cafe, in the last 18 years we have always received high ratings.

"Covid and Brexit has had a direct impact on staffing issues, as with all hospitality businesses, which was been exacerbated by our increased footfall of customers in 2021.

"This meant that some documentation wasn't filled in correctly on the day of the inspection.

"We have applied for another inspection, and so are expecting a higher rating very soon.

"We have readdressed the issues raised in the report and have had more staff food hygiene training and a specialist came in to help us."

• READ MORE: Drop in hygiene standards at York food businesses, say inspectors

A spokesman for the City of York Council has previously said that the council also suspects that the pandemic and Brexit has had an impact on the food hygiene ratings in some York's food businesses.

Anthony Dean, acting public protection manager at the council, said: "The reduction in standards is possibly resulting from factors such as the impact of Brexit on numbers of workers available to work in the food sector, lack of suitably trained chefs and staff, and closure of businesses due to financial difficulties."

The inspection report stated that major improvements were needed with the confidence in management, meaning that the manager had a varying record of compliance to hazards and control measures, and no food safety management system.

However, this does not mean that the inspector believes that the manager needs to be reconsidered - rather it refers to how well they achieved a good food hygiene performance in the inspection.

The report also that improvements were needed with the food hygiene and safety, meaning that more effort was needed to not fall below standards with food handling procedures.

However, the report said that the structural compliance of the restaurant, which refers to the cleanliness of the facilities and layout, was good, meaning that Browns attained a high standard of compliance to the industry standards.