Four stars out of five for hospital food outlets

CATERING outlets in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, have been awarded four stars by environmental health inspectors.
Musgrove achieved an ‘excellent’ mark for its food handling and management, and a ‘good’ mark for the condition of the premises.
Overall, the four star award meant the inspectors considered the level of hygiene practice to be ‘very good’.
The borough council team of inspectors looked in particular at three areas involved with the hospital's catering services:

• Food handling practice
  
• Condition of the premises
  
• Management systems

Musgrove catering manager Phil Shelley said: “This is excellent news.
“Our staff have worked incredibly hard to improve standards in everything we do.
“The four star award is a great Christmas present for us and an incentive to get that fifth star next year.
“We will now be working hard with the council and the estates team here at Musgrove to do all we can to further improve the facilities we have.”

• Our photograph shows Musgrove catering staff (left to right) Marion Collins, Jon Smith, Rose Cooke, Sandra Hall, Daniel Shelley, Jenny Grant, and Colin Frost. Photo submitted.

Five stars for six more food establishments

ANOTHER round of food scores for businesses in West Somerset has been announced by the district council’s environmental health team.
Local businesses which prepare, cook, or sell food have their food hygiene standards rated on a star system.
An award of five stars demonstrates excellent compliance, while an award of no stars indicates there are major breaches in food hygiene standards.
Top of the scoreboard after the latest environmental health checks with five stars were:

• Andrews on the Weir, Porlock Weir


• Blenheim Lodge, Minehead


• Bridge Cottage, Winsford


• Broadlands, Minehead


• Burger King, Butlins Skyline, Minehead


• Castle Coffee House, Dunster

Earning a commendable four stars were:

• Alcombe Tandoori, Alcombe


• Amoy Noodle Bar, Butlins Skyline, Minehead
  
• Binham Grange, Old Cleeve


• Chives, Watchet
  
• Dulverton Middle and Community School, Dulverton


• Finnigans, Butlins Skyline, Minehead


• Hathaways, Dunster


• Holnicote House, Selworthy
  
• McDana's, Minehead


• Minehead Middle School, Minehead

Portfolio holder for well-being, Councillor Kate Kravis, said: “Whether it is a takeaway or top restaurant, your children’s school dinners or your grandparents’ care home, this scheme can help people decide where they want to spend their hard-earned money.
“Food scores aims to raise standards of food hygiene and I would encourage people to check out how well their favourite food retailer fares.”
Businesses are required to display a sticker on their premises which shows the number of stars awarded, and the food scores are also available online at http://www.foodscores.co.uk/.

Schools to receive food safety whodunnit computer games

WAS it Mucky Maureen with the mouse droppings or Grimy Gran’s grubby hands which led to the stomach-churning events in town?
That is what pupils of junior schools in West Somerset, Taunton Deane, and Sedgemoor will be challenged to discover when they take delivery of FoodO - a fun and interactive way to learn about food safety.
The game was thought up by environmental health boffins at Taunton Deane Borough Council.
It is part of a computer-based teaching pack which is going out to all junior schools in Somerset to support curriculum work with seven to 11-year-olds.
FoodO is based on the evergreen board game Cluedo but the lead piping and revolver have been replaced with some real nasties such as dirty utensils or contaminated meat that can lead to food poisoning.
Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, and Professor Plum have given way to characters such as Slimy Simon, Mucky Maureen, Snotty Sarah, and other dubious personalities with less-than hygienic habits.
The aim of the game is for players to find out how and where a case of food poisoning happened - and who was responsible.
The action moves from supermarket to corner shop or butcher to snack van.
Children must find out the cause and the culprit.
From the ‘germ’ of the idea, FoodO was developed with funding from the Food Standards Agency, while the Healthy Schools team at Somerset County Council has helped with piloting, advertising, and distributing the resource.
The board game version, which was given to all Taunton Deane primary schools three years ago, has now been developed still further into a PC-based version.
Youngsters are given plenty of clues before tackling the FoodO challenge as the resource pack includes a narrated slideshow telling the pupils how food poisoning is caused and how it can be prevented, and a quiz to make sure they have absorbed the information.
Thanks to high-tech wizardry, the whole package - including information and teaching aids - is contained on one PC memory stick.
Councillor Mel Mullins, the Deane council’s executive councillor for environmental services, said: “The original board game we launched three years ago was popular with the children and successful in getting the food safety message across, and the PC version is a natural progression of this.
“I am delighted that we have been able to secure funding and help to take the message further afield in an exciting and innovative way.”
The game will be sent out to the schools shortly after they return from the summer holidays.

Five star rating for Magna meals after spot-inspection

MEALS produced by Magna West Somerset Housing Association (MWS) have been given a five star rating by local environmental health inspectors.
The district council’s food inspection team carried out a surprise ‘spot inspection’ on the Magna kitchen in Ingrams Meadow, Watchet, and found staff were spot on with their food handling and preparation regimes.
Staff at Ingrams Meadow provide hot meals for elderly Magna residents and for those in the housing association’s sister site at Silvermead, in Alcombe, Minehead.
Dishes for Magna Meals on Wheels are also prepared, cooked, and distributed from Ingrams Meadow.
Magna community services manager Barbara Mullan said: “This is a fantastic result, we were not expecting an inspection, so to get five stars is a huge pat on the back for everybody.
“We often see restaurants advertised in the local papers for getting four stars, so this is a real achievement.”
Magna Meals on Wheels is an essential service for many people in the area as it provides freshly cooked meals using fresh ingredients from local suppliers.
They are delivered hot to the customer’s door.
Magna Meals on Wheels is available to anybody who needs it within a 10-mile radius of Watchet, and the frequency of deliveries can be adjusted to meet the requirements of customers.
Mrs Mullan said: “Magna Meals on Wheels often provides a point of contact for a vulnerable customer who may well not see anybody else or have the opportunity to get a hot meal during the day.
“We do a great job and this five star rating reinforces that.”
More information about ‘Magna Meals on Wheels’ is available by calling Ian Wood on the freephone number 0800 138 6107.

• Our photograph shows Magna Meals on Wheels kitchen staff at Ingrams Meadow (left to right) Dawn Rowe, Jayne Clark, and Judy Snell. Photo submitted.