Mouldy fish and unfit "blood tofu" found in Chinese supermarket

A FOOD hygiene inspector found mouldy fish and unfit “blood tofu” in a Chinese supermarket in Deptford.

The inspector handed Anything Chinese Supermarket, in Deptford High Street, a one out of five food hygiene rating after the visit.

Among the shocking findings were mouldy smoked fish, unfit cooked “blood tofu” – blocks of coagulated blood – and filthy scales.

A “substantial” amount of imported pre-packed meat and fish products were also lacking traceability information in the shop, with non-English labels on them, the report found.

In the food hygiene report, the inspector said: “I am very concerned that the practices seen during my inspection, together with the lack of staff awareness of food safety systems, indicate a lack of management controls over food operations in your business.

Unfit "blood tofu" discovered inside the Deptford shop — **PICTURED: Unfit “blood tofu” discovered inside the Deptford shop**

“As a priority, controls and monitoring must be put in place to ensure there is no risk to public safety.”

The main findings of the report were:

Cross contamination risks created by filthy weighing scales in the shop
The temperature in the walk-in freezer was too high at -7.2C, raising the risk of food poisoning bacteria growing
No soap or hand drying facilities in the bathroom sink. There was also no wash hand basin for the food handlers when they are cutting fish and meat
Dirty and greasy buttons, switches, handles and taps throughout the shop
Unfit cooked blood tofu and two boxes of non-compliant mouldy imported smoked fish discovered. In total 27kg were found in the freezer and display fridge for sale
No compliant disinfectant was available or in use in the shop, despite the handling of raw meat or fish
Pest control concerns over gaps in the shop and evidence of gnawing and a hole in the ground. Staff were not carrying out daily pest control checks as claimed in a written document in the shop.
The sink used to prepare fish was not connected to a drainage system
Filthy and broken fly killer machine
Dirty ice-making machine not working
Poor cleaning throughout the food preparation are, the walk-in fridge and walk-in freezer

**PICTURED: The manager of Anything Chinese Supermarket vowed to make hygiene improvements**

Responding to the report, Mei Lin, manager at Anything Chinese Supermarket, told the Lewisham Letter: “We are going through and fixing each thing in the report but we haven’t done it all yet.

“The inspector told me I couldn’t get the pig’s blood from the company we were buying it from, so we stopped selling it.

“They said the packaging wasn’t matched to food hygiene (standards). It was like a clear container we were buying it in.

**PICTURED: The filthy scales in Anything Chinese Supermarket**

“Also the mouldy fish was not on sale – it was a worker’s friend who kept it here as he didn’t have enough space in his home.

“I’m not sure what they’re referring to in relation to the non-English labels. We are buying a machine to label some of our products.

“At the moment we buy some products in small bags from big boxes at the fish market so the bags don’t have labels on them.

**PICTURED: The fish preparation sink was not connected to the drainage system**

“We have cleaned the scales. I got soap and hand-drying facilities for the toilet and we’ve cleaned the switches and other contact points.

“We’ve also got sanitiser now. And we are cleaning the cloths every night now.

“I’m going to fix the gaps in the rear storage area and we are going to buy a new machine for hot and cold water for the sink.

The shop's bathroom lacked hand sanitiser and drying facilities — **PICTURED: The shop’s bathroom lacked soap and hand drying facilities**

“And the fly killer machine works, we’ve done some cleaning to the outside of it but in the summer time we may get a new one.

Ms Lin said the shop is also carrying out more cleaning in the storage area and has replaced its dirty ice making machine.

The manager, who said she was not in the shop at the time of the inspection, vowed to make further hygiene improvements.

Home » News » Mouldy fish and unfit “blood tofu” found in Chinese supermarket

Mouldy fish and unfit “blood tofu” found in Chinese supermarket

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