Cakehole at unit 17 of 12 Horn Lane in Greenwich was told that a major improvement was necessary when it was inspected on February 19.
In the inspection report, it states there were mouse droppings and signs of pest activity throughout the premises, including on racks and on the wrapping used to cover cakes.
The unit was described as “not pest proof”.
The Cakehole unit after over £2,000 was spent on it to fully pest-proof and clean it (Image: Cakehole)
Cakehole sells a variety of different baked goods, including cakes, doughnuts, brownies, biscuits and more.
The bakery business also caters to weddings and sells its products at markets across the capital.
In response to the negative report, Cakehole’s owner Lara Cooke said she has done everything she can to improve and is now “confident” that the bakery will receive at least a rating of four at its next inspection.
Unfortunately for the business, this won’t take place until at least August and in the meantime Cakehole will remain with a one food hygiene rating.
Mrs Cooke claims that the environmental health officer from Greenwich Council who carried out the inspection has since returned to the Cakehole bakery and was “very happy” with the changes that had been made after all her advice had been followed.
These changes included £1,398 spent on pest proofing the premises which took place on March 19.
Mrs Cooke said: “Our Food Safety folder was an edition from 2007, which is when I first started, so even though she had seen this folder during previous inspections she wanted me to get the new edition as there have been changes made since then. She checked this folder when she came back and was happy to see how it was being completed.
“This folder contains records of the extra checks we now make on opening and closing the kitchen.
“They are visual checks and cleaning the kitchen before starting to bake, disinfecting anything that might possibly come into contact with mice, although since 19th March we haven’t seen evidence of a mouse.
“We definitely don’t have any mice-infested cakes and that has never been the situation.”
An independent pest control service has inspected Cakehole twice since March and found no presence of any mice.
As well as the pest issues, the officer also stated in their initial report that a “deep clean and declutter” was needed, racking above fryers was “coated in grease” and equipment needed washing.
In response to these, Mrs Cooke said: “It looks like a completely different kitchen now.”
She had the floor painted to make it easier to clean, all utensils including cake tins are disinfected and cleaned at the start and end of the day, and a new sink has been installed on instruction of the officer as well as a new bin and hand towel dispenser.
This work all came to about £1,000.
Mrs Cooke added: “Our environmental health officer knows we make beautiful, delicious cakes and marvelled at how calm our head baker is. We’ve followed her advice and so are confident now we’re bringing these cakes to our customers safely and hygienically.”
A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: “The hygiene score will stay the same until the next scheduled inspection.”
