Peak District pub makes major changes after one-star food hygiene rating

Ye Old Nags Head on Cross Street in Castleton has a restaurant and hotel that provides catering for weddings, christenings, birthday parties, and a variety of other celebrations.

However, a recent inspection report - detailing a list of work needed to be completed by the establishment in order to comply with the law - saw the business left with a one star rating - meaning ‘major improvement necessary’.

‘A portion of mouldy cheesecake was found in a container in the sweet fridge’, the report stated.

Additionally, ‘the temperature of some of the foods stored in the walk-in refrigerator was too high at 10°C to 12°C. These foods are likely to support the growth of food poisoning bacteria or the formation of toxins and must not be stored above 8°C.’

The ‘pot wash cleaning check-list had not been completed since May 2019,’ and the chefs were ‘not aware’ that the document existed, the report said.

‘The seal to the lid of the bread freezer were dirty and showing signs of black mould’, and the kitchen was instructed to ‘clean the seals and ensure they are cleaned regularly’.

Under the Food Hygiene & Safety Procedures section of the report, ‘issues have been raised regarding the risk of E. Coli O157 cross contamination’.

The Nags Head were told to review their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and ‘put in place effective controls for E. Coli O157 cross contamination’, include these into their documented food safety management procedures, and ‘ensure staff are fully trained in these control measures and undertake monitoring’.

Peter Kamis, who became the general manager after the inspection, said: “After the inspection we closed for two days, gutted the kitchen and everything the inspector asked us to do has been done.

“We’ve gone above and beyond what was asked of us - we have installed new extractors, introduced a cloud-based system for our cleaning schedules and food temperature reports, date labels and day dots are now being used and we order fresh containers each week on a standing order to ensure used containers are disposed of.

“All food handling staff are now level two food and hygiene trained, with all chefs enrolled in courses next year for additional allergen training.

“We were previously rated five-stars and the re-inspection was apparently called for by a member of the public. The former general manager and head chef had left since the previous inspection and had not kept the paperwork up to date upon leaving.

“The new chef had been working in the kitchen for four days on the day of inspection.

“We’ve looked at how to update our old kitchen and have now bought it into the 21st century.”