AN AWARD-winning Basingstoke restaurant which was last year named as one of the best curry restaurants in the country has been given a one for its hygiene. 

Spices and Spirits, in Kings Furlong Drive, was visited by food safety officers from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council on January 13, who said ‘major improvement’ is needed for hygiene standards.

It is the second restaurant in Basingstoke to have been given a low rating, after Spicy Tadka, in Festival Place, was also given a one for hygiene following an inspection on January 6. 

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Spices and Spirits, which was declared Curry Restaurant of the Year – South East at the 11th English Curry Awards in 2022, was found to require ‘major improvement’ for the management of food safety, which includes systems of checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, and evidence that staff know about food safety.

Inspectors said that the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building and hygienic food handling both require ‘improvement’.

Inspectors considered the hand washing facilities, pest control, storage, re-heating and food preparation.

Nitin Patil, who opened Spices and Spirits in 2019, said if the inspector had visited two hours later, he believes they would have been given five stars.

He said: “We do maintain very high standards of food hygiene and that is reflected in the quality of food and customer comments.

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“It was an unfortunate event that [the] council visited us just after a very large catering as we were in the process of cleaning the kitchen.

"They had to give the rating based on the visit at that moment although they visited again that evening and twice later on to confirm we are maintaining hygiene equivalent to a five-star rating.

“By law, they have to publish this rating which was for that moment. As they are satisfied with the hygiene standards, they will re-visit hopefully March 2023 and change the rating for [a] higher score.”

However, Rob Draper, the borough council's regulatory services manager, said the "significant food hygiene concerns" had been "in existence for an unacceptable period of time". 

He added: “As part of our routine work, one of the council’s food safety officers made an unannounced visit to Spice and Spirits on 13 January 2023 and at the time of the inspection found significant food hygiene concerns. These had obviously been in existence for an unacceptable period of time. It was therefore awarded a food hygiene rating of ‘One - Major Improvement Necessary’.

“Food hygiene ratings are given in line with the assessment scheme set out by the statutory Food Law Code of Practice that applies throughout the UK. This assessment takes into account how hygienically the food is handled, the cleanliness and condition of the premises and the management of food safety.

"All food hygiene ratings of two or less are considered by a panel of at least three authorised food safety officers to ensure consistency of application. The food hygiene rating applied to Spices and Spirits was considered by the panel on 16 January and this rating was not appealed by the operator of the business.

“Our officers are continuing to work with staff at the Spice and Spirits to ensure that the required food hygiene standards are being met and maintained.”

Mr Draper said decisions about enforcement are "often about patterns of non-compliance and not just single incidents". 

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