A prominent campus store has sparked a health and safety storm after it allegedly sold a vegetable infested with MAGGOTS.
An undergraduate, who does not wish to be named, claims a piece of broccoli purchased from Nisa Local on 30 May was crawling with the bugs.
They noticed the vegetable was infested after they placed it inside a food bowl ready to be cooked.
They were then left shocked and snapped their findings.
“I’m really disappointed in the food standards at Nisa Local on campus. Their fresh food section is often days old,” they told us.
“Just because we’re students doesn’t mean we deserve poor quality.”
The undergraduate says they won’t be shopping at the store on Market Square, which took over from Costcutter in January, following the incident and are calling on other students to check the produce before they buy it.
Ananna Zaman, a first-year student, said a health and safety check should “potentially” be carried out. She added: “It is veg at the end of the day but I don’t think I would “check” surely you would see maggots on your food before buying it.
“As long as Nisa are thoroughly checking their fresh produce from now on it shouldn’t be a problem in the future.”
Vinh Dang, also a first-year student, added that he thought it was “disgusting”.
But George Hughes, a third-year student, said he thought it was “not true”, and defended Nisa Local as a “high quality shop”. He said: “I think it’s more likely the maggots were in the students halls or fridge.
“Also, flies tend to lay their eggs on decaying matter. Rotting meat or old vegetables in a garbage can for example. Not on ripe vegetables that have just been bought from a supermarket. Therefore I think it’s not true.”
Nisa Local has two branches at the university on Market Square and Halifax College. They have plans to bring another shop to Heslington East.
A spokesperson for the chain said: “It is difficult to comment on this specific case without knowing when the product was purchased, what conditions it was stored in and what other produce was stored alongside it. Nisa operates to the highest standards of hygiene and environmental health. Both shops on campus are regularly inspected by an independent environmental health inspector in addition to official inspections.and achieved a 5* star rating in the last environmental audit (the certificate is displayed on the door of the Market Square supermarket).
“Fresh vegetables and fruit and procured at Leeds Market and via Nisa’s depot in North Lincolnshire. They are brought in twice a day and sold within 24 hours.
They added: “A shelf life is not stated but as with all fruit and veg the user is advised to wash it before eating it. Any customer who is unhappy with a product for whatever reason should take it back to the shop and will receive a full refund.”
The news extends recent fears over health and safety from local restaurants in York following the latest ‘Scores on the Doors’ by the Food Standards Agency, which rates food handling, cleanliness and hygiene checks.
Around ten outlets in the area have been rated zero by the government department, whose website claims means they are “poorly performing”.
“Those with ratings of ‘0’ are very likely to be performing poorly in all three elements and are likely to have a history of serious problems,” it says.
“There may, for example, be a lack of sufficient cleaning and disinfection, and there may not be a good enough system of management in place to check and record what the business does to make sure the food is safe.”
Among those given the poorest rating was popular venue, The Biltmore Bar and Grill, which its staff says is down to a “technicality with a complex piece of machinery, which has since been addressed.”
A spokesperson told the York Press: “The rating was awarded based on a technicality regarding a piece of complex machinery.
“It was stressed to us at the time that our kitchen was extremely clean and the award was in no way a reflection of the freshness of our produce.
“We welcome an inspection of our kitchen any time as we pride ourselves on always previously holding five stars.”
There hasn’t been any slanderous comments yet, at least none that have been allowed…
WHERE ARE THEY?!