A STEAKHOUSE in Stockton Heath is among two establishments hit with poor food hygiene ratings.

Tomahawk - on London Road - and Crunchh - on Folly Lane - were both recently inspected by hygiene inspectors.

There is a delay between inspections taking place and the new rating being made publicly available on the Food Standards Agency's website - this allows for restauranteurs to challenge the ratings, and to work with the FSA to improve their rating.

Both Tomahawk and Crunchh Gourmet Grill were inspected on October 24.

Following the inspections, Crunchh was slapped with a score of one, and Tomahawk was dished out a score of two-out-of-five for food hygiene.

Establishments are inspected against the following criteria:

  • Hygienic food handling - Hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.
  • Management of food safety - System or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.
  • Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building - Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building (including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene.

Tomahawk was rated 'generally satisfactory' for hygienic food handling and its management of food safety - inspectors noted that improvement is necessary regarding the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building, however.

Crunchh Gourmet Grill, however, was found to require improvement in all areas.

Inspectors noted that 'major improvement' is required regarding the management of food safety at Crunchh.

It was also listed that the eatery requires improvements across the other two criteria.

All information is taken from the Food Standards Agency and is accurate at the time of writing.