Oxford chicken shop gets one-star hygiene rating

Chicken R&G on St Clement’s in East Oxford sells a variety of takeaway food, including pizzas, milkshakes and fried chicken.

On Tuesday, January 12 this year it had an unannounced visit from Oxford City Council's food hygiene inspectors who have now awarded the takeaway the lowest-possible rating of one star.

Read also: Oxford kebab shop with greasy grill gets one-star hygiene rating

The main reasons for the takeaway’s low score was due to inspectors finding out-of-date food in the fridge and freezer.

Food was found with a 'use-by' date of January 5, which was almost a week out of date.

Inspectors wrote in their report that it is an offence to use food after its use-by date.

Chicken R&G inspection pictures from Oxford City Council

Although it was suspected that the items had been previously frozen, the inspectors explained that this has to be proven by providing a date for when the product was frozen – and this was not done.

There was also suspicion over the safety of the takeaway’s defrosting methods.

The council inspectors said they were told that the food was cooled using gas, but this was not a method known to the inspectors and no clarification was given on the defrosting process.

Chicken R&G was also told to redecorate before the next visit after peeling paint was found near the wash sinks.

The takeaway was also warned that if it did not tidy up the rear area of the restaurant it could attract pests.

Read also: What happened to Oxford's one and two star restaurants?

Inspectors said they had 'little confidence in the management' after their inspection.

Finally, the hygiene officers raised questions over the food safety management system in place on the day of their visit.

They recorded that there was no member of staff working at the takeaway at the time of the inspection who had any appropriate food hygiene training.

The inspectors told the managers to provide names of staff working at the shop and copies of their Food Hygiene Training Certificates at the next visit.

Scores on the doors

Despite Chicken R&G receiving a one-star hygiene rating, Oxford City Council has said that, since the January 12 inspection, the takeaway has been revisited and is now 'generally compliant' – however, the rating has remained at one star.

That is because the council needs to conduct another full inspection to award a new rating.

No member of staff was available yesterday to comment on the inspection report.

Chicken R&G's takeaway food is available to order on delivery services Just-Eat, Deliveroo and UberEATS.

And, even though it only has a one-star hygiene rating, it has two five-star reviews on Google from customers praising its 'tasty' pizza, chips and chicken wraps.