Zero hygeine rating for Isle of Wight cafe after mouldy cucumber and dead flies found

A cafe at a popular tourist attraction on the Isle of Wight has been given a zero hygeine rating with inspectors revealing a mouldy cucumber, decaying beetles and dead flies were found.

'Urgent improvement' is necessary at the Hungry Caterpillar cafe at Butterfly World in Ryde, following inspections in August by the Isle of Wight Council.

The authority recently published the environmental health officers' findings, which resulted in the voluntary disposal of some food.

The general standard of hygiene was poor, inspectors said, and various areas required a deep clean.

According to the findings, there were dead flies and 'large beetles decaying' above the shelves overhanging the griddle and deep fat fryer, and on the shelves above the food preparation area in the kitchen.

Cobwebs were found above cooking equipment and there were dirty floors in the kitchen, server and storeroom.

The display fridge had old food debris on all shelves, in the ventilation ducts and stagnant water with decaying food in the glass door sliders, and equipment including the hot drinks machine, upright ice cream freezer, and deep fat fryers were found to be dirty.

During the inspection, officers found food past its use-by date including boiled eggs, corned beef sandwiches, a rancid and mouldy cucumber, a tomato in a sealed bag which was rancid with water around it, and other mouldy items. They were all voluntarily disposed of during the visit.

Food was being re-heated to 63ºC, when it should have been 75ºC, to ensure food poisoning bacteria had been effectively destroyed.

The temperature probe used to monitor the food was not being sanitised before or after each measurement, leading to a risk of cross-contamination of food, said the report.

Daily temperature checks of fridges and freezers, hot holding and food had not been made and in the chill display, high-risk foods including corned beef sandwiches were being stored at 9.9ºC, when the temperature should not have gone above 8ºC.

Although a revisit by inspectors confirmed there was a fault with the unit, they said daily checks would have picked up the failure earlier.

Sandwiches which had no allergy labels were voluntarily disposed of.

The PA news agency has contacted Hungry Caterpillar for a response.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...