THE head of the team which carries out food hygiene inspections has said standards have dropped in the county recently.

Helen Cameron is Worcestershire Regulatory Services' food hygiene principal officer, heading the team which carry out inspections of businesses looking at standards in the handling of food, how food is stored, how food is prepared, cleanliness of facilities and pest control, how food safety is managed and evidence staff know about food safety.

Mrs Cameron said while the majority of county businesses "are trying to get it right and manage their food safety really well" a trend had emerged.

The Worcester News has also recently reported on a growing number of one star rated venues in Worcester, where 'major improvement is necessary.

Among venues to be recently rated at one star are AK General Foods Ltd, Age UK Worcester And District Lunch Club in Bilford Court, Lifestyle Express in Kilbury Drive, The Admiral Rodney At Berrow Green in Martley, Your's Pizza Bite / Little India in Ronkswood Hill, Happy Taste in Orchard Street and O Nosso Cafe in London Road.

Mrs Cameron said: "There has been a national trend of a drop in standards, which is now being seen here.

"It will have been due to the pandemic.

"During the pandemic the Food Standards Agency (FSA) stopped us making visits. We think (standards dipped) because we dropped a visit in our usual cycle.

"There is no excuse. A lot of it is about cleaning. Paperwork is important - for example it shows your suppliers, to make sure food is safe.

"It is so important - if you had a zero rating you won't get on the platforms - the Just Eats and Deliveroo - and lower scoring businesses appear further down (on their apps)."

Mrs Cameron said as part of inspections they also go out and collect food samples and take swabs.

"The samples are showing the same as food hygiene scoring - there is a drop in standards," Mrs Cameron said.

 

READ MORE: Worcester cafe hit with one star food hygiene rating

 

"We are getting more poorer samples than we have had for quite some time."

Mrs Cameron said while it was disappointing there is still a very high level of compliance and they had a good relationship with county businesses, with some even contacting them to highlight it had been a while since their last inspection.

"We are hoping it is short lived, everybody has had a rough time over the last few years, especially in the hospitality sector," she added.