Nearly half of all supermarkets based in Edinburgh have failed to meet basic food safety and hygiene standards during inspections last year, a freedom of information act has revealed.
The city council’s food safety inspectors paid visits to 22 supermarket stores in the Scottish capital over a 12 month period and found that nine of the stores had breached environmental laws
Inspectors took food samples from supermarket branches, including Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, which revealed excessive levels of bacteria, while other stores were found to be storing raw and cooked food together, along with and worn-out chopping boards and dirty floors.
The council report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that one Asda store had 25 failings reported when inspectors visited in March, including raw meat being stored next to cooked food and the deli and bakery counters being cleaned with same cloths.
At the Sainbury’s Savacentre at Cameron Toll, inspectors highlighted 19 failings, including blocked access to wash basins and a smoked ham pasta salad from the store’s salad bar which was deemed to have too much bacteria .
Director of the Scottish Retail Forum, Fiona Moriarty, said: “Supermarkets have a clear management structure, as well as internal auditing processes, to make sure they keep to the laid out food safety standards.”
Each of the supermarkets which fell foul of the regulations expressed their concern at the findings and claimed that all of the council’s recommendations have subsequently been carried out.
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