WARRINGTON'S newest Chinese restaurant has scored poorly on its first food hygiene inspection.

Yum Cha opened on Time Square in December, and within a week of opening it was inspected by environmental health officers, in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency.

Inspections are carried out routinely, with the results being made available on the FSA's website.

The checks take place 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.

Yum Cha was inspected on December 19, and was given a food hygiene rating of two-out-of-five by the Food Standards Agency.

According to the FSA, Yum Cha was 'generally satisfactory' regarding the management of food safety, and the condition and cleanliness of its facilities was 'good.'

However, improvements are necessary regarding hygienically handling food, and the restaurant was thus given a disappointing hygiene score.

There is a delay between food hygiene scores being posted and updated on the FSA's website, as there is a mandatory period of time given for restaurants to dispute an inspection's findings before the results are made public.

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