Gavin Derrick, team leader of food safety, said: "There are two purposes to inspections. The main one is to ensure food is being produced safely.

"The inspection is also intended to make sure the operation is compliant with the law.

"There are things within the law that people may not be compliant with but don't have a direct result on food safety.

"Parts of the premises are critical to safety, such as food contact surfaces, and there are other areas considered less critical.

"The officers have told me that where they found issues with cleaning they weren't excessive. Floors do become dirty but we're not preparing food on them so there's no correlation between that and the safety of food. In terms of the cleanliness of the kitchens the predominant impression is that they are far better than average. The flaking paint was around wet areas. The inspectors considered it to require attention rather than be something that was going to lead to contamination of food.

"What was found with temperature control was the rules were not being interpreted properly. Where food was being kept above refrigeration it was not high risk."

Steve Price, head of City Catering, which runs school kitchens in Southampton, added: "Where food that should have been discarded was put out for sale the following day, this was a misinterpretation by the kitchen managers involved and is not our policy. They've now been retrained.

" Where there was mouse activity, pest control were alerted and extra precautions were taken to make sure that mice didn't have access to food. The school has done work to block up the points of access - the fabric of the building is the responsibility of the school. That problem has been eradicated."

Gavin Derrick continued: "The presence of mice is obviously undesirable but food preparation can be managed so safety is not compromised and the inspectors were satisfied that was happening.

"Regarding out of date food, best before dates aren't the same as a use by date. Use by dates are applied to products which have a short shelf life and require refrigeration to assure the safety of the food. Best before dates are applied to products which have a long shelf life. There can be deterioration over time in the performance of the product but if food is used after that date there's no suggestion there's an issue with food safety.

"Regarding the suggestion of potential cross-contamination risk between raw and cooked food, there was no actual risk of cross-contamination found but the inspectors were recommending better practice.

Steve Price concluded: "We have invested in an auditing tool to improve inspections. I think it shows our commitment to taking on board what our colleagues in environmental health say.

"It's very easy with these comments to view them as far more serious that they actually are.

"Compared to other food outlets in the city we do have exceptionally high standards.

"We are one of the few local authorities accredited to Hospitality Assured, part of the Institute of Hospitality. At our last assessment our score - 71 per cent - was less than one per cent lower than the highest ever given.

"Providing school meals is not about making a profit but about providing healthy food to fuel young bodies and minds."