Urumchi Uyghur Restaurant: Sheffield food business slapped with 1-star hygiene rating

A Sheffield restaurant close to the city centre has been given an unsatisfactory rating.

Urumchi Uyghur, an Uyghur-cuisine restaurant on Glossop Road, close to West Street, was given a new food hygiene rating earlier this year.

However, at their most recent inspection, on February 26, the inspector slapped them with a 1-star hygiene rating, meaning there was ‘major improvement necessary’.

The Star made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to find out the reasonings, which we can now share with you. The list contained a total of 30 recommended and legal improvements that needed to be made, with ‘management of food safety’ causing the most concern.

Please note: Some improvements may have been made since the inspection was carried out.

At the time of inspection, the business was found not to be documenting food safety management procedures which is used to identify where risks to food safety could occur, and how they will be controlled. The inspector discussed the Safer Food Better Business as one system that could be used.

Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox, with The Star’s free emails

The environmental health inspector listed a number of subsequent food safety management items that also needed to be ‘addressed immediately’. To list a few, this included: Using monitoring procedures to ensure high-risk food is adequately heated, such as using a temperature probe, and recording the temperatures; writing a written cleaning schedule; and purchasing an anti-bacterial cleaner for kitchen use.

It was also noted that ‘hygienic food handling’ required improvement at the time of inspection. 

The inspector said: “Refrigerators were used for storing raw meat and prepared/ ready-to-eat food. This can lead to cross contamination. Raw food must be covered and kept separate from other foods. It was noted that there are sufficient refrigerators for raw and prepared/ cooked foods.”

Another risk of cross contamination was also found in the kitchen.

“A dish containing cooked meat was stored below the worktable next to a dish of raw meat,” 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.”

Additionally, the cooked meat stored below the worktable was at room temperature. Food should only be taken out of the fridge when needed to reduce the risk of bacterial growth.

Rice was also found in the rice cooker from the previous evening. The inspector said: “Food cooled slowly can lead to the growth of spore-forming bacteria that may have survived heating. High-risk foods must be cooled as quickly as possible regardless of who will be eating it.”

There were other risks found of bacterial, physical, chemical contamination or food allergen cross-contact, such as:

• Storage of open bags of starch and MSG in the cellar
• Presence of green potatoes on shelving in the kitchen
• Unclear work flow from dirty to clean at the equipment washing sink
• Storage of cooked food next to raw meat at worktable
• Absence of any anti-bacterial cleaner on the premises

Sheffield City Council works with any food businesses that receive scores of two and below to assist them in becoming compliant. They then have the choice to pay £150 for a rerating, or wait for their next programmed inspection.

The restaurant’s rating was still one-out-of-five at the time of writing - 07/05/24.