Full Stop Cafe Sheffield: Inspector reveals why Neepsend café received two-star food hygiene rating

Full Stop Cafe, in the Neepsend/Kelham Island area of Sheffield, has been given a two-out-of-five food hygiene rating.

Following a routine inspection on September 13, an environmental health officer outlined a number of findings, actions and improvements that were needed to be made to ensure the establishment was complying with food hygiene regulations. 

These are listed under three areas:

• Compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures
• Compliance with structural requirements
• Confidence in management/control procedures.

It was found that improvements were ‘necessary’ at the Burton Road café for both food hygiene and structural requirements, but confidence in management was ‘generally satisfactory’.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has now revealed the full findings of the inspection.

A number of areas and items were generally found to be in a dirty condition from excess grease, and needed to be 'thoroughly cleaned'. This included the floor under the display counter, the grills on the drinks chiller, and hand contact points on the fridge freezer.

The inspector said that a written cleaning schedule needed to be devised to ensure 'all parts of the premises, equipment and utensils are thoroughly cleaned, on a regular basis'.

The importance of preventing cross-contamination was noted after the inspector saw raw bacon rind being cut off in close proximity to ready-to-eat sandwich fillings. Within the refrigerator, raw meat was also found being stored close to ready-to-eat food.

The inspector said: “I wish to remind you of the importance of preventing cross-contamination. Raw food (especially meat) must not come into contact with ready-to-eat food as food poisoning bacteria can be transferred.

“Separate equipment, including work surfaces, boards, cloths and utensils, must be used for raw and ready-to-eat food. Hands must be thoroughly washed after touching raw food.”

Inside the refrigerator, food such as coleslaw was found being stored beyond its use-by date. The inspector said: “This is not acceptable. Food must not be used or sold after the use-by date has expired. Visual checks of date labels must be improved.”

The bathroom facilities were in a 'poor state of repair', with a dirty toilet bowl, a sink that had no running water, dirty floor and walls, and the flush handle on the toilet not working. To flush the toilet, the level inside the cistern had to be pulled. These were all noted as needing repairs/cleaning.

At the time of the inspection, it was found that certain food handlers were not wearing suitable clothing. The inspector said: “Every person working in a food handling area needs to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and wear suitable, clean and, where appropriate, protective clothing.”

They added: “Food handlers must receive adequate supervision, instruction and/or training in food hygiene commensurate with their work activities.

“Evidence of food hygiene training such as induction records, one to one training, or accredited certificates should be available for each food handler.”

The cafe is rated 4.6 out of 5 on Google, with 54 customer reviews with many noting the reasonable prices for sandwiches, and the friendly staff.

Full Stop Cafe remains a two-star food hygiene rated establishment at the time this was written (November 22, 2023).