Doe Bakehouse, in Church Street in York City Centre, is a regular fixture for the city’s foodies and is well-known for its large well decorated doughnut.
However, following a visit by City of York Council officials on March 14, their café was handed a score of one for its food hygiene rating, meaning ‘major improvement necessary’.
This inspection however is deemed ‘temporary’ by the team, who do not believe that their rating reflects the hygiene and safety practices implemented by Doe’s team.
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Whilst officials were able to rate the food hygiene practices as ‘good’, the rest of the store fell short with cleanliness and condition of facilities and building being deemed ‘improvement necessary’ and the management of food safety receiving the verdict of ‘major improvement necessary’.
Speaking with The Press, a representative of Doe said: “Unfortunately, the visit concluded that our store was worthy of a 1 hygiene rating.
“Firstly, York Council had incorrect contact details so were unable to contact management on site to discuss details and provide a rating.
“When the inspectors visited the store, unfortunately with a manager not being on site at that time, and with new staff working that shift, there wasn’t a clear indication of where to locate the correct paperwork.
“Since the initial reporting, we have had the same inspector visit and assess the areas and paperwork he was unable to review on his first visit. Thankfully, he was reassured and there was a lot more clarity with the paperwork. With his approval, we are now awaiting a revisit from the council to redeem our 5 stars.”
They then went on to say: “In both stores, our hygiene rating has not been in relation to the food handling itself but the available paperwork, however, we have since ensured all staff have the knowledge and training to locate and present it with confidence.
“Food hygiene ratings are something we recognise as an incredibly important method of communication between businesses and clients, which is why we stress that all factors are considered when analysing hygiene scores.
“We are very keen to get this rectified and keep doing what we do best … doughnuts!”
Doe has another shop in Layerthorpe, where their bakehouse is located, which received a three-star rating (generally satisfactory) when inspected in August of last year.
According to their website, Doe ‘pride ourselves on making the best treats in York’ with their city centre shop ‘perfect’ for grabbing donuts to go and their Layerthorpe store offering pottery painting and events.
