An Oxford supermarket has been handed a low food hygiene rating.

The Middle East Supermarket in Oxford Road in Cowley was visited by Oxford City Council’s Environmental Health team on Saturday, March 16.

Inspectors were not impressed with what they found and stated that ‘major improvement’ was necessary at the shop.

As a result, the supermarket was given a lowly one-out-of-five hygiene rating after the damning inspection.

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The report outlined one key issue at the Middle East Supermarket which was highlighted as a cause of concern.

Management of food safety at the venue required ‘major improvement’ according to inspectors.

This refers to whether there is a system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat.

It also concerns whether there is evidence that staff know about food safety and if the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

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The cleanliness and condition of both the facilities and the building were then rated as ‘generally satisfactory’.

This includes having an appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene.

The Middle East Supermarket’s hygienic handling of food was also given the same rating following the snap inspection by the environmental health team.

This refers to the preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage of food.

The Oxford Mail has approached the Middle East Supermarket for comment.