Wirral restaurant hit with new zero star food hygiene rating

A Wirral restaurant has been handed a new zero-out-of-five food hygiene rating.

CIBO Italiano on Banks Road, West Kirby, was given the minimum score after assessment on June 23, the Food Standards Agency's website shows.

It means that of Wirral's 625 restaurants, cafes and canteens with ratings, 420 (67%) have ratings of five and just three have zero ratings.

Rating

Businesses are given their ratings based on three key areas and CIBO Italiano received the below scores at the initial inspection:

• Hygienic food handling: Hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage - improvement necessary.
• Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building (including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene - major improvement necessary.
• Management of food safety: System or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future - major improvement necessary.

Second visit: Management at CIBO Italiano told LiverpoolWorld that the low rating was due to the food temperature checklist for the required 12 months being misplaced, and that this issue has now been rectified. Staff were able to present temperature checklists for several months to the inspector.

In terms of cleanliness and conditions on June 23, CIBO Italian said that the inspector found mouse droppings in one of the back rooms, however, after a second visit, inspectors said there was no evidence of infestation and that the initial droppings were likely caused by a field mouse. CIBO Italian also told LiverpoolWorld that the inspector informed them that once a second inspection is arranged, the venue will likely be rated five out of five as the kitchen was ‘spotless’.

What happens now: CIBO Italian will now invite inspectors back to re-inspect and provide an updated hygiene rating.