Celtic fans who are attending Ibrox this weekend are well advised to add sick bags to the hard-hats they are taking to limit the risk at that ground. Today a new issue has been uncovered; health inspectors were on the verge of closing the kitchens after discovering the filthy state of them, and potential issues with the Ibrox pies.
Now, at this point it should be pointed out that inspectors also found issues with the Celtic Park kitchens; namely cracked and broken tiles and “debris” on the floor. Having once worked in the kitchen of a famous hotel I can tell you that “debris” on the floor is pretty much par for the course and a few signs of fraying aren’t exactly unheard of.
But at Ibrox there were also problems with an oven not working correctly (which represents a health hazard and a half; you ever accidently eaten improperly heated chicken or something? The aftermath probably weren’t the greatest 48 hours of your life) and pies were colder than the standard, recommended temperature.
This section, from the health inspection report, cracks me up;
“At the time of inspection it was noted that pies were left stored at ambient temperature for a time period that was much longer than the time period permitted in your HACCP system. Upon measuring the temperature of the pies at approximately 3pm it was found that their temperature was still below your critical limit value. However, it was discussed at the time of inspection that this may not have been the case on a warmer day.”
Hahaha! So on a warmer day the ambient air temperature might have heated the pies! Have you ever heard such nonsense? And don’t these people know that it gets progressively colder as the football season rolls on, and not warmer, except at the end? So yes, granted, the air would be warmer in May than it is in December, from August until March it drops with every week that passes, and that’s one heck of a lot of cold time in between.
Can you believe someone at Ibrox made that suggestion?
Unreal.
Inspectors also found “dirt on taps and a grease trap and a ventilation duct which needed cleaned.”
Ugh! Sounds lovely.
I know that most Celtic fans, pissed off enough at having to pay £50 for a ticket to this game, probably won’t want to part with one extra cent above and beyond that, but for those who do this report makes it clear that you might be risking the integrity of your internal organs as much as the weight of your wallet.
Does anything at Ibrox actually work properly?
I mean when they can’t even get the pies right …