'FILTHY': High Wycombe takeaway gets ANOTHER zero rating

‘Unfit’ chicken out of date by 9 days was found in the chiller at Dixee Chicken when inspectors called round on April 26.

And there was more chicken in storage showing signs of ‘significant deterioration’ – yet is was ‘available for use’.

See below for full list of what inspectors found (and what the owner told us)

Wycombe District Council’s environmental health team slammed the management Desborough Road chicken shop for failing to wash their hands and for keeping raw chicken next to salad.

And staff were not doing enough to prevent the risk of customers getting salmonella poisoning.

The takeaway has been suspended from the Just Eat app due to its zero-star rating.* 

The Bucks Free Press visited the takeaway in May, and we were largely unimpressed – read our review here

REVIEW: We eat in High Wycombe’s zero-rated hygiene takeaways – but what were they like?

When we visited, the inside of the chicken shop was dirty, with stains on the floors and walls.

The takeaway had already been given a Health Improvement Notice’ warning when it got a zero star rating in October, and this time round inspectors found several serious failings.

Here’s what inspectors saw:

• ‘Unfit’ and out of date chicken in chillers ‘available for use’ - this was voluntarily thrown away at the inspection
•  ‘Lack of hand washing’ between handling raw and ready to eat food
• One member of staff had no food safety certificate or training
• ‘Filthy and dirty’ fridges
• Blood and raw chicken in the store area
• Evidence an upstairs room ‘in state of disrepair’ had been used to prepare food
• Previous issue with rats, though no evidence of pests seen at inspection
• Risk of food poisoning from keeping raw meat next to lettuce
• Raw food preparation area next to cooked food and risk of contamination
• ‘Poor controls’ in place to stop risk of salmonella
• Same sink being used to wash and prepare raw meat and salad
• Meat and chicken kebabs being stored at room temperature
• Dirty cloths used to wipe up stains and spillages
• Cleanliness of kitchen and work surfaces ‘poor’
• Containers were not clean
• Floors were dirty

Having already been served a warning, Environment Health officer Stephen Starsmore warned the operator of Dixee Chicken Sajjad Haider that he may be prosecuted.

He said: “I was disappointed to find that food hygiene standards remained poor at my inspection. The level of cleaning was again found to be poor particularly to equipment and in hard-to-reach areas.

“Issues of potential cross contamination were again raised regarding a lack of adequate separation and poor handling of raw foods and ready-to-eat foods.

“It was of most concern that out of date and potentially unfit raw chicken was found available for use in your fridge is during the inspection which was voluntarily disposed of at the time of my visit.

“I must also draw your attention to the outstanding hygiene improvement notices which required the provision of adequate food safety training for staff handling open foods and the implementation of a documented food safety management system.

“It is an offence not to comply with the requirements of a food hygiene improvement notice and liable for prosecution.

“In light of the standards observed during my inspection and lack of compliance with the outstanding hygiene improvement notices, the matter is under consideration for prosecution.

“A revisit will be made within the next month to ensure compliance.”

The details of the revisit are not yet available.

What did the owner have to say?

The Bucks Free Press spoke to Mr Haider, who insisted he and his staff had improved standards, saying inspectors were welcome back ‘any time’.

The operator said he was ‘confident’ the rating would improve, and that he was ‘shocked’ when he saw the date on the expired chicken during the inspection, which he put down to an issue with the supplier. 

He said: “We are improving and have done the changes that they told us to.

“We have changed the way we do things and the places we were keeping things. We are working with them (the council).

“I am confident we will get a better rating. We are working on that and we are improving for that. They can come back any time.

“I am checking the stock every day, we now get fresh delivery of chicken two to three times a week.

“I was very shocked when I saw that date on the packet. I threw it away in front of him (the inspector) into the bin I was happy to do that of course.”

*A previous version of this article stated that the takeaway was still listed on Just Eat. While Dixee Chicken's name and details still appear on the app, it is not currently possible to order from there using Just Eat