Creams Cafe Stevenage says ‘serious concerns’ over hygiene being addressed after shocking images shared on Facebook
Ice cream mixed with coffee granules in a tray which sits under the store's coffee machine. - Credit: Archant
Revolting images of poor hygiene at a desserts-only cafe have gone viral online, being shared more than 2,400 times after being posted on Facebook on Friday.
Creams Cafe Stevenage accepts "serious concerns" over hygiene must be addressed. - Credit: Archant
Jade Tyler, a former employee at Creams Cafe in Stevenage High Street, has posted stomach-churning images from behind the scenes at the cafe which depict coffee granules mixed with ice cream, filthy units, piles of rubbish and vats with rancid contents.
The branch manager of the chain told the Comet that many of the images are “simply incidents of spillage”, but accepted there are “more serious concerns” which are already being addressed.
Piles of rubbish at Creams Cafe Stevenage were captured on camera. - Credit: Archant
Jade, who worked at Creams Cafe for seven months but has since left, said: “For months I kept quiet about the standards they keep in the shop.
“I’ve seen employees pick food up off the floor and serve it to a customer. I’ve seen food being served with bites taken out of it.
“There has been mould, leaks, rotten dirt and just plain filth left in fridges and round the edges of the floor.
“I’ve never worked in a place quite as disgusting as this.
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“In the whole time I worked there, I could count on my fingers how many times I saw someone wash their hands before or after serving food.
“The standards of this shop is shocking.”
By Monday, Jade’s Facebook post had attracted more than 1,600 comments and 2,400 shares.
There have also been concerns raised about poor hygiene on TripAdvisor. One customer said: “The kitchen was filthy,” while another said: “The staff don’t appear to have had basic hygiene training.” Creams Cafe Stevenage opened in September last year and in November was given a five-star hygiene rating by Stevenage Borough Council.
Manager Tahir Amin said: “We are extremely disappointed to read, and see the subsequent reaction to, the Facebook post by a former member of our team.
“These accusations and images have been collated over a period of several months and, while many are simply incidents of spillage, we accept there are more serious concerns. In view of these more serious concerns, we have already applied a system of more frequent checks to not allow this to happen again.
“We have a five-star hygiene rating and have consistently passed independent health audits. This leads us to believe this is a vindictive attack which, due to the nature of social media, has become damaging far beyond its content.
“We ask our community to view this incident fairly, understand we take this seriously, and appreciate the source of the attack is from a person whose motives may be personal.”
