The most unhygienic Gail’s in the country has been revealed after being hit with a poor rating less than 12 months after opening.
The bakery in Birmingham‘s New Street has been slapped with a one-star rating by the Food Standards Agency.
Th trendy upmarket chain is known for its sourdough bread which sells for up to £13. Croissants are £2.80.
It has bakeries across the country including London, Bristol and Brighton. The New Street store was the first in Birmingham.
A score of one means major improvement is necessary, according to the FSA.
Anything below a score of three (generally satisfactory) is considered a fail from the Food Standards Agency.
The cleanliness and condition of facilities and the building was found by inspectors to need ‘major improvement’. This includes ensuring the building has appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene.
The management of food safety was also hit with a one-starred ‘major improvements necessary’ rating.
The most unhygienic Gail’s in the country – which failed its hygiene rating less than a year after opening
A score of one means major improvement necessary, according to the FSA
The bakery opened in Birmingham on New Street (pictured) but was last month slapped by a one-star rating by the Food Standards Agency
The Birmingham site failed to show there were checks in place to ensure that food sold is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety.
The food safety officer could not provide confidence that standards will be maintained in future.
While hygienic handling of food scrapped a pass with a score of three as ‘generally satisfactory’.
The one-star rating is the lowest score of any Gail’s bakery and one of only three in the country to be failing in hygiene.
Earlier this year, stores in Cambridgeshire and London were awarded scores of two (improvement necessary).
A Gail’s spokesperson said: ‘Gail’s takes food hygiene very seriously, reflected in above average ratings across all our bakeries.
‘We have fully investigated this isolated incident which has now been resolved and are confident the issue is under control and poses no risk to our customers or products.’
Back in January, Gail’s manager Bernadette Scott Rushfirth addressed concerns about the opening, but said the new bakery would ‘improve’ the landscape.
She said: ‘We understand the concern around chains, but our view is that a healthy high street is one with a diversity of quality offers, each delivering their best.
‘High streets evolve over time, and we open our bakeries often in closed banks, retail spaces or restaurants, improving the landscape of the high street.
‘All of our bakeries exist in areas where the choices are wide and growing – we believe the improvement in our food landscapes is something to celebrate.’
