A former employee says he was told to replace ‘use by’ labels on expired food
A former employee of an exclusive private members’ club in East London has claimed that it was selling out-of-date food.
Soho House’s ‘Shoreditch House’ branch has not denied the claims but has launched an internal investigation into what a spokesperson called an “isolated incident”. It’s now also subject to an investigation by Hackney Council on food safety grounds.
In a viral social media video, now viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, the former employee claims he was dismissed after voicing concerns about the sale of expired food. Soho House refutes this claim, with a spokesperson telling MyLondon that the employee’s contract was “terminated for reasons entirely unrelated” to the incident.
Shoreditch House, a branch of the Soho House group, is a luxury private members’ club in Ebor Street, offering customers dining and wellness, with memberships from £291.67 per month.
The ex-employee, whom we’ve chosen not to name, said he had made a complaint which led to an internal investigation by the club chain’s management, which he says concluded that expired food was being sold at the Shoreditch location.
The former employee claimed that the behaviour continued after the complaint, and that he raised the issue with Hackney Council. He then alleges that he was sacked days later for doing so.
“They kept on selling the out-of-date food, because of that, I reported them to Hackney Council (…) on September 17, and on September 25, I was fired,” he claimed.
MyLondon has received confirmation that Shoreditch House is now under investigation by Hackney Council. A council spokesperson said: “We have received a report about food safety and hygiene at Shoreditch House and have opened an investigation.”
A Soho House spokesperson said it was taking immediate action and was investigating the incident with an external, independent consultant. They also remained adamant that they take their members’ food safety incredibly seriously and that they have the highest food hygiene rating, 5 stars.
A Soho House spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry that this isolated food labelling incident took place at one of our kitchens. This is not how we expect our Houses to operate, and it is not company policy.
“We have taken immediate action, including our Director of Health and Safety, together with an external independent consultant, conducting an investigation as a matter of priority.
“Delivering the highest level of food safety for our members and guests is incredibly important to us. Shoreditch House has consistently achieved the highest food hygiene rating score of ‘5’ from Environmental Health inspections – including the most recent in March this year – and also performed strongly in an independent and unannounced external audit last week.
“For clarity, the former employee’s contract was terminated for reasons entirely unrelated to food labelling.”
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