A JAPANESE restaurant that failed to label food with allergy warnings and was at risk of “rodent” infestations has been hit with a one out of five hygiene rating.
Ozen Japanese, in London Road, Westcliff has been given the second-lowest rating followed an inspection in November by the Food Standard’s Agency.
The report, which was published this week, raised serious concerns around allergies and the risk of rodents being able to infest the restaurant.
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Bosses were handed a list of or urgent improvements that must be made.
The list stated: “All pre-packed food for direct sale must be labelled with a full list of ingredients including allergies.
“Pest control: To provide a bristle strip to rear external door to prevent rodent entry.”
Ozen Restaurant specialises in serving sushi, sashimi, and curry.
For “management of food safety”, the restaurant was told major improvement is necessary.
However, the restaurant was found to be “generally satisfactory”, for food handling and cleanliness of facilities.
Other issues highlighted included issues around management.
The report stated: “Your current documentation food safety management system is a generic system used by shield safety and adopted by your company. The system is incomplete.
“As advised implement a documented food safety management system and train staff in its use.”
In response to the findings, a spokesman for Ozen Japanese said: “We understand this food hygiene rating is unacceptable under any circumstances.
“The reason behind this rating has nothing to do with the kitchen hygiene, the main reason behind it was all the documentation behind it was all the documentation was wrong at that time.
“We apologise for any confusion this has caused, we are ready for the council to come back and redo our food hygiene as it is necessary for our customers to know we take this very seriously.
“We would like to thank our customers for the support as far and keep supporting our journey.”
Food hygiene ratings range from zero to five, with zero meaning urgent improvement is required, and five meaning hygiene standards are very good.
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