River Cottage earns one-star hygiene rating as inspectors find mouldy cheese and E. coli risk
Devon restaurant flagged for major food-safety failures, with raw and cooked foods in proximity and inadequate staff training; owners vow improvements.
Devon’s River Cottage, the flagship restaurant of chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, has been handed a one-star hygiene rating after inspectors found mouldy cheese in the kitchen and a potential risk of an E. coli outbreak.
East Devon district council’s August 7 inspection raised a series of concerns about food safety practices, including a raw-vacuum packing machine that was in use for raw foods despite a cooked-food vacuum-packing machine being available, and a broken raw-pack system reported two weeks prior. Inspectors noted there was no date on opened goat curd and yoghurt, and that the kitchen was being operated with limited documented hygiene controls. The report also highlighted a lack of recent food hygiene training certificates and stated that all chefs needed to be inducted, trained and monitored.
The council’s assessment said the restaurant required major improvements in food safety and in the cleanliness and condition of facilities and buildings, including hand-washing facilities, pest control and ventilation. The rating scheme for hygiene ranges from zero to five stars and businesses are expected to display their rating in person and online.
The River Cottage site operates as a dining and cooking-education venue with a farm-to-fork ethos, offering seasonal experiences rather than traditional sit-down meals. It has long tied its brand to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Channel 4 programs, including a Devon-based series in 2012.
A spokesperson for the restaurant said that the team had rectified everything raised in the initial report and that the inspector would return in days to formally assess the improvements. They added that the goal was to reinstate a higher rating once verified.
River Cottage’s owners emphasize local, organic sourcing and a kitchen philosophy built around seasonal ingredients and hands-on cooking experiences; the attendance and dining model in Musbury, near the Axe Valley, is part of that broader brand.
Public health officials stress that ratings are intended to protect consumers and highlight compliance gaps, with inspectors conducting follow-up visits to confirm that corrective actions have been implemented. The specifics of the upcoming review and any resulting changes to the rating will be announced once finalized.