Yahoo News Truro restaurant owner slams 'offensive' hygiene rating in Plymouth
A Cornwall business owner who’s been running restaurants for more than 20 years has slammed a hygiene rating system across the border after receiving a one-star rating despite having glowing feedback at his Truro restaurant.
Andreas Drosiadis owns Mediterraneo in Truro, which received the highest possible rating - a five - from Cornwall Council food hygiene inspectors in April 2024. But just weeks earlier he was ordered to make improvements at his Mediterraneo restaurant on Plymouth's Mutley Plain.
Andreas said the one-star rating was “offensive” and “embarrassing” and he has since closed the restaurant. His Truro venue in Victoria Square is still open and thriving.
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Andreas said low ratings have a “huge impact” on restaurants and slammed the one-hygiene rating on his Plymouth restaurant, Mediterraneo (on March 22), as “utterly ridiculous”. The Mutley-based eatery has now become a members only LGBT “swingers” venue, also owned by Andreas.
He said after the ratings, which are based on inspections from the two different councils: “The one-rating was an utterly ridiculous decision. I've had restaurants in four different locations and went through several inspections and I’d always got 5 or 4. A low score has a huge effect on professionals running restaurants.
“It’s embarrassing and shows little respect for professionals who’ve been cooking for many years. This is our life and then a hygiene inspector walks in and destroys our business with a low rating. I took it as a joke, but some people will be devastated.
"I think some inspectors are a lot stricter than others, but in regards to food safety and hygiene I don't think we deserved a one-rating for the Plymouth restaurant. I've worked in the industry for over 20 years and we know what we are doing."
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Plymouth City Council (PCC) has said hygiene inspectors are seeing “an increase” in non-compliance, but this is partly due to a “backlog” after the Covid pandemic. Hygiene inspectors make unannounced visits to restaurants, followed by a hygiene rating outcome between zero (urgent improvement is necessary) to five (very good).
In 2019, 48 Plymouth restaurants were slapped with a one-hygiene rating and 20 eateries received a zero-rating. During the first year of the Covid pandemic (2020) seven restaurants received a zero-hygiene score and 18 were given a one-rating.
So far in 2024 (until May 15) four restaurants have received a zero-hygiene rating and 13 were scored a one-rating. Last year, (2023) 11 restaurants scored a zero and 35 eateries got a one-rating for hygiene.
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “We are seeing an increase in non-compliance as we continue to work through the COVID-19 backlog as well as keeping up to date with new food businesses in Plymouth.
“Our food safety visits are unannounced; this is to gain a true representation of standards found at the time of the inspection.
“Between April 2023 and March 2024, approximately 10 percent of our inspection outcomes were 0, 1 or 2 ratings, which means they require further action to improve. Conversely, approximately 90 percent of premises inspected were rated 3, 4 or 5, which is compliant with food hygiene legislation.”
