Oct 4, 2013, 10:04 am
Last edit by: 710 77345
Latest health inspection reports for LHR BA Lounges
BaxterStorey has received the following scores for its LHR lounges:
T5
Concorde Room and Galleries First: 5/5 (February 2014)
Galleries Arrivals: 3/5 (September 2013)
Galleries Club North: 4/5 (September 2013)
Galleries Club South: 2/5 (September 2013)
Galleries Club T5B: 4/5 (October 2013)
T3
Galleries First and Galleries Club: 4/5 (December 2013)
T1
International Lounge: 4/5 (December 2013)
UK & Ireland Lounge: 4/5 (December 2013)
BaxterStorey has received the following scores for its LHR lounges:
T5
Concorde Room and Galleries First: 5/5 (February 2014)
Galleries Arrivals: 3/5 (September 2013)
Galleries Club North: 4/5 (September 2013)
Galleries Club South: 2/5 (September 2013)
Galleries Club T5B: 4/5 (October 2013)
T3
Galleries First and Galleries Club: 4/5 (December 2013)
T1
International Lounge: 4/5 (December 2013)
UK & Ireland Lounge: 4/5 (December 2013)
Avoid Galleries Club South: Appalling Food Hygiene
Oct 2, 2013, 6:33 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: London
Posts: 3,500
Avoid Galleries Club South: Appalling Food Hygiene
Environmental Health inspected Galleries Club North and South last month, and found failings (that won't be a surprise to anyone who has read the Lounge Food Feedback thread) in both of them. The good news is that the Galleries Club North gets a 4 out of 5 - the problems there wereOverall, these are all minor issues that enable BA to say Galleries Club North has good food hygiene 
The bad news for BA is that Galleries South gets an appalling score of 2 out of 5 - putting it in the bottom 10% of all food outlets in England, worse than many burger vans and as bad as the Concorde Room.
The issues identified here were:
Unsafe food on the buffet - the temperature of the food wasn't being measured correctly, nor recorded correctly. It appears food was being kept warm (but not hot enough) for hours prior to being served.
Old food on the buffet - food must be not be served more than 2 hours after cooking - a chef was seen microwaving rice that was originally cooked more than 2 hours ago.
Food with no expiry dates - defrosted kosher meals were found in the fridge, with no indication as to how long they had been defrosted, or when they should be used by
Fly infestation - a small fly infestation was seen in the kitchen
Dirty serving implements - food was being kept on a tray that had a dirty lid. In addition, a corkscrew was encrusted with a layer of dirt
Water-based paint used in the prep area - when a member of staff wiped the wall with a wet sponge, the stains came off together with the paint which according to the report is "unacceptable... impervious, non-absorbent, washable and non-toxic materials" should be used.
Again, there were "behind the scenes" health & safety violations that put staff at risk.
In summary - if you are flying British Airways, avoid the South lounge complex until a new inspection has occurred and use the North Galleries Club instead.
These inspections occurred on September 11th, over 6 weeks after the Concorde Room and First Class lounge were inspected.
It beggars belief that after British Airways and Baxter Storey received such a report (and according to the Baxter Storey statement "all specific management failings were rectified immediately") that another lounge just a few metres away would fail just as badly six weeks later.
.
- Some mould in food storage containers
- A small fly infestation in the store room
- 3 areas so dirty they needed immediate cleaning
- A number of "behind the scenes" health & safety violations that put staff at risk
The bad news for BA is that Galleries South gets an appalling score of 2 out of 5 - putting it in the bottom 10% of all food outlets in England, worse than many burger vans and as bad as the Concorde Room.
The issues identified here were:
Unsafe food on the buffet - the temperature of the food wasn't being measured correctly, nor recorded correctly. It appears food was being kept warm (but not hot enough) for hours prior to being served. Old food on the buffet - food must be not be served more than 2 hours after cooking - a chef was seen microwaving rice that was originally cooked more than 2 hours ago. Food with no expiry dates - defrosted kosher meals were found in the fridge, with no indication as to how long they had been defrosted, or when they should be used by Fly infestation - a small fly infestation was seen in the kitchen Dirty serving implements - food was being kept on a tray that had a dirty lid. In addition, a corkscrew was encrusted with a layer of dirt Water-based paint used in the prep area - when a member of staff wiped the wall with a wet sponge, the stains came off together with the paint which according to the report is "unacceptable... impervious, non-absorbent, washable and non-toxic materials" should be used.In summary - if you are flying British Airways, avoid the South lounge complex until a new inspection has occurred and use the North Galleries Club instead.
These inspections occurred on September 11th, over 6 weeks after the Concorde Room and First Class lounge were inspected.
It beggars belief that after British Airways and Baxter Storey received such a report (and according to the Baxter Storey statement "all specific management failings were rectified immediately") that another lounge just a few metres away would fail just as badly six weeks later.
.
Oct 2, 2013, 6:39 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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You need this icon: 
You'd think the GC lounges would score better (and north did, but surely mould and flies isn't worthy of a 4?) because they don't do hot food through most of the day and the breakfast offering is more limited.
There's just a lot less stuff to get wrong here.
You'd think the GC lounges would score better (and north did, but surely mould and flies isn't worthy of a 4?) because they don't do hot food through most of the day and the breakfast offering is more limited.
There's just a lot less stuff to get wrong here.
Oct 2, 2013, 6:46 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2013
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The bad news for BA is that Galleries South gets an appalling score of 2 out of 5 - putting it in the bottom 10% of all food outlets in England, worse than many burger vans and as bad as the Concorde Room.
Old food on the buffet - food must be not be served more than 2 hours after cooking - a chef was seen microwaving rice that was originally cooked more than 2 hours ago.
Old food on the buffet - food must be not be served more than 2 hours after cooking - a chef was seen microwaving rice that was originally cooked more than 2 hours ago.Really basic, trivial stuff that anyone working food prep should know about.
Shameful, but no longer surprising.
Oct 2, 2013, 6:49 am
#8
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Oct 2, 2013, 6:50 am
#9
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Oct 2, 2013, 6:50 am
#10
Join Date: Aug 2011
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Oct 2, 2013, 6:53 am
#13
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: BOS
Programs: BA Silver, Mucci
Posts: 5,289
Heads should be rolling. It shouldn't take a food safety inspection to find these things out.
Just in case BA / BS weren't paying enough attention to know that their buffet food wasn't hot enough, and they that they had fly infestations, they have been receiving complaints from customers on these 2 issues since last May!
I have to agree that 4 out of 5 seems very generous for Galleries North, but then I don't understand how a council can deem food safety violations to need immediate action, but not follow up for 3 months to ensure that the problems have been rectified.
Just in case BA / BS weren't paying enough attention to know that their buffet food wasn't hot enough, and they that they had fly infestations, they have been receiving complaints from customers on these 2 issues since last May!
I have to agree that 4 out of 5 seems very generous for Galleries North, but then I don't understand how a council can deem food safety violations to need immediate action, but not follow up for 3 months to ensure that the problems have been rectified.
Oct 2, 2013, 6:55 am
#14
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Did you do an FOI request to get the information early?