LOCAL SANDWICH shop and favourite student haunt Browns of Heslington is the not so proud owner of a 0 out of 5 Food Hygiene rating, Vision can reveal.
The rating, awarded by the Food Safety Division of the City of York Council on the 13th May 2013 is the worst possible which can be awarded under Food Standards Agency system and signifies that “urgent improvement is required” in the business’s food hygiene standards.”
The system was launched in November 2010 by the FSA in a bid to help give consumers “an idea of what’s going on in the kitchen or behind the scenes.”
Meanwhile, YUSU is preparing to open its latest campus café facility, The Kitchen, on November 11th leading to speculation that the Union may be attempting to directly compete with the ever popular Brown’s.
Certainly, The Kitchen will be filling a similar market to Browns, serving sandwiches and other snack based or lunch related foods.
It seems that this news will do little to dissuade at least one student from frequenting Browns. Second year Sociology Student, Bethany Payne told Vision, “I’d rather get salmonella than venture across the University Road to Alcuin.”
EDIT: Following a Freedom of Information Request to the City of York Council, Vision can now reveal the full details of the FSA report on Browns of Heslington. The report blast Browns for “recurring food safety failures spanning a number of years” and makes reference to multiple issues including “dirty and limescaled taps” an accumulation of “litter, dust and cobwebs” around the kitchen area, “exposed insulation and untreated timber” in the dry store and bread trays which were “discoloured and greasy and containing aged food debris” amongst other issues.
The report also criticized Browns for discovery of out of date Blakeman’s sausages, a damaged automatic meat chopper which created “a danger of contaminating cooking product” and incomplete or improper E-Coli and Pest Control measures.
I’m not sure what ‘imp rovement’ is, but I don’t think it will help
I did enjoy Browns, then I got really, REALLY bad food poisoning from them. That kind of thing tends to put you off a place for a LONG time. The Kitchen looks really nice though
this is a conspiracy to help boost the new yusu kitchen thing. its not true. i used to work at browns and they made me wash my hands. its proper clean
Have they got any evidence to justify giving it such a score?
Bethany Payne sounds like an absolute legend!
http://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/en-gb/245677
what a shame browns was hightly rated for myself and my fatty friends. a lovely stroll down from halifax.. nothing like a beef and horseradish sandwhich accompanied by a can of coke…
how times have changed. it makes me think if browns has been rated this poorly how the hell is the charles still open?!?
Nothing wrong with the Charles!
Have they got evidence? Well they did an inspection on the place so I’d guess they probably do. They are the Food Standards Agency after all.
@leon
The link you provided restates the rating but doesn’t provide the evidence to justify the rating.
The FSA phone app gives a lot more information such as whether it is hygiene, shop layout or management that is the major issue. Browns scored appallingly in all areas. You can only get a possible 20 bad marks; Browns scored 20/20 for inspector confidence in their business (i.e. management ability to deliver a clean business), 15/20 for hygiene and 20/20 for poor structure (fixtures and fittings causing problems. All that info is on the FSA app. Sounds like a death trap in there….I’ve only seen Jumbo score lower :|
York City Council did the inspection and awarded the 0 score. If you want any evidence as to why Browns was given 0 then you’d best ask them.
From what I’ve heard about the scheme a 0 score doesn’t make an establishment inherently unsafe, if that was the case it would have been shut down. The score is a measure not only of the hygiene itself but also how the establishment documents how it is complying with hygiene requirements. Lots of different things like regular recording of fridge temperatures and making sure the records are easily accessible contribute to the score. I heard that one place from my home town missed out on a 5 score because whilst they had all the relevant hygiene documents they didn’t have them in the correct order in the folder.
Having worked there, and been subjected to the manners of the management on a regular basis, as well as the cleanliness in the shop (I couldn’t fully pass judgement on the kitchen in fairness), I feel thoroughly justified in saying how pleased I am that someone has finally noticed that it’s not as delightful as students seem to think. I’ve also had numerous friends complain of stomach upsets after consuming the merch but haven’t experienced it myself…hope the council/food standards can make a considerable difference before Browns’ loses any custom, sincerely.
@Couldnthappentoanicerbunch please expand? why are they so bad? Do they just not care? it never looks shabby when you go in and you can see a fair bit of the kitchen?
Efes has a rating of 1. But their pizzas taste sooo goooood.
It’s Browns or Browns’. Don’t ever write Brown’s again. Please.
So THIS is why I always got the shits around exam time, where I’d eat there at least once a day?
I have eaten at Browns of Heslington for many years now, as have my friends and Family! We all love the food especially the sandwiches. I even worked there during a summer whilst at uni and I know 1st hand that they are exceptionally clean and hygienic. With regards to some of the comments people have put on here, have you for one second thought that maybe its all to boost the new campus eatery? All I can say is more fool you for falling for this ludicrous publicity stunt! LONG LIVE BROWNS AND YOUR AMAZING SANDWICHES!!!!!!!!!! :)
@Andy
Odds for Andy’s second name being called Brown?
What a load of hogwash. Next you will be saying that a bribe was paid by the university to the council to give them a zero rating.
“I even worked there during a summer whilst at uni and I know 1st hand that they are exceptionally clean and hygienic” – just washing your hands fella doesn’t cut it. Besides why don’t you work there anymore?
I used to eat at Browns when I was studying at York, back in the mid 90’s. Have been in a couple of times over the past few years, including as recently as last month.
Looked the same, the sandwiches tasted the same, and I haven’t had any “digestive issues”. Sandwiches of choice are the “Smoked Ham & Cream Cheese”, and the “Crab Salad” (which in my day was Prawn & Crab, but times change, ho hum).
Only had the jacket potatoes once, mind – don’t know if they still do them.