Premier League football teams criticised for lax food safety standards
A recent round of inspections has revealed that food safety standards are not as high as they should be at some of the country’s richest and most famous football clubs.
Premier League clubs up and down the UK were inspected by local authorities, and not all demonstrated the levels of food hygiene training, cleanliness and food safety management practices that are expected of them.
Swansea City’s catering facilities were criticised by local council inspectors, who found that one of the food outlets at the Liberty Stadium had served undercooked chicken to a customer. Out-of-date food was also found at the stadium.
Other clubs left red-faced by the round of inspections were Chelsea, which was found to have been selling cooked turkey products that were past their sell-by date, and Manchester United, which was found to have something of a rodent problem.
However, most of the issues uncovered at the clubs were relatively minor, requiring small changes to get standards up to scratch. For example, at clubs such as West Ham, Wigan, QPR and Aston Villa, food outlets were simply told to improve small issues such as general cleaning and temperature control.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton, meanwhile, were all praised for their high standards of food hygiene, and all received top marks in the inspection.