A family-run Italian restaurant in Princes Risborough was given a low food hygiene score after an inspector found ‘dirty’ equipment and unsafe food storage practices during a surprise visit.

In the inspection of Villa Bianca on Bell Street at the beginning of June, a Buckinghamshire Council officer flagged 30 areas of concern that ultimately warranted a new one-out-of-five food hygiene score for the business.

Among these were the findings that “no formal food safety training” had been undertaken by staff working on the premises and that food storage practices were “supporting the growth of poisoning bacteria”.

Raw foods were found stored next to ready-to-eat foods like cheese in the restaurant’s fridges and some products including mussels risked exceeding their use-by-date due to being stored – sometimes uncovered – in unlabelled containers.

(Image: Buckinghamshire Council)

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Prawns and other uncooked foods were also being handled and prepared on the same work surfaces used to make ready-to-eat dishes and a temperature probe was found “not working and in a dirty state”.

The inspector additionally learned that hot food was regularly left to cool without being covered for up to six hours, increasing its contamination risk, and found the inside of a large fridge and the kitchen ceiling “in a dirty condition”.

(Image: Buckinghamshire Council)

Villa Bianca has an average Google rating of 4.5 stars, with recent customers praising its “excellent food, amazing staff and reasonable prices”.

However, in the inspector’s report, it was found to need major overall improvement – primarily to its food safety management.

A revisit will be carried out this month, where the inspector will judge whether the required work surrounding food hygiene training, temperature control, cleaning and other measures has been satisfactorily met.