Bootle restaurant told ‘major improvements’ needed after food hygiene inspection report
Little Italy Wood Oven Pizza/Smashburger in Bootle(Image: Google)
A “misleading” Bootle takeaway has been told it will have to change its name if it carries on cooking food in a certain way. Food hygiene inspectors said Little Italy Wood Oven Pizza/Smashburger is “misleading” its customers after they discovered how the pizzas are being cooked.
According to online food ordering App Just Eat, the Little Italy Pizza restaurant has 30 pizzas on offer. Underneath the restaurant signage on Hawthorne Road, the words “WOOD FIRE OVEN PIZZERIA” are displayed prominently – suggesting all pizzas are cooked using a wood fired oven.
However, when Sefton Council’s environmental health team visited on May 20, it found something entirely different. The report noted: “You are advertising the sale of pizza’s cooked by using burning wood.
“During my visit, I found the pizzas were being cooked by gas in a dual use oven. I think this is misleading as the customer would expect to purchase a pizza cooked by burning wood.
“You must ensure pizzas are either cooked by using burning wood or change the name of the business and any menus and online information to remove the indication pizzas are cooked by burning wood.”
Overall, inspectors awarded the restaurant a one star food hygiene rating after highlighting several problems relating to hygiene, structural requirements and management. It means the restaurant must implement “major improvements”.
Perhaps the most concerning issue was in the section of the report dealing with hygiene and safety procedures. The inspector wrote: “You need to monitor important things which ensure the food you produce is safe, for example the temperatures of high-risk perishable foods, and foods which have just been cooked to make them ready to eat.
“As discussed for monitoring temperatures this won’t always need a thermometer (for example where foods clearly change colour when cooked). The important thing is that you can show that the food is at or has reached the right temperature, and these checks are recorded by writing a temperature down each time they are checked, or by recording in some other way that on a particular day everything was satisfactory.
“It was noted at the time of the visit that high-risk pizza toppings, including cooked chicken and cooked turkey ham were displayed at room temperature.
“As discussed, whilst it is not good practice to keep foods out of refrigeration, I would confirm that high-risk foods intended to be served cold, such as high-risk pizza toppings can be kept for service or on display for sale for up to four hours if the temperature of the food is above 8°C.
“After four hours, the food must be refrigerated until it is sold, served or thrown away. The food must not be displayed again at room temperature.”
Little Italy Wood Oven Pizza/Smashburger will be revisited by inspectors to check that legal requirements have been complied with. However, the guidance from Sefton Council states that inspectors will be looking at standards generally, not just at the specific areas relating to the last report.
Inspectors confirmed they will be looking at standards generally, not just at the specific areas you have been working to improve, so the one star hygiene rating could go up, down or remain the same.
The Liverpool ECHO approached Little Italy Wood Oven Pizza/Smashburger for comment.