The Church of Scientology London has been found non-compliant by the City of London after a routine food hygiene inspection, Scientology Business can report.
The multi-million pound building, located at 146 Queen Victoria Street near Blackfriars, is considered an “Ideal” Org and was opened at a lavish ceremony in 2006 but has since stood largely empty, staffed by a skeleton crew of senior Scientologists and the children of wealthy donors.
The property features a small café area on the lower ground floor, which was visited by food inspectors on the morning of 31st October 2024 and was given an overall rating of 3, which means ‘generally satisfactory’. Their report found the Church to be non-compliant in several areas including allergy awareness and prevention of cross-contamination, noting staff “placed ownership and responsibility for food hygiene compliance on others, e.g. the regulator and other third parties.”
The inspection found the Church of Scientology London to be ‘generally satisfactory’, however noted ‘some issues of non-compliance’ in the following areas:
- The condition of the structure of the building(s) – their cleanliness, maintenance, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities.
- How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.
- System or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat.
The report also noted that the cafe prepares “typically less than 20 meals a day”, in contrast to Scientology’s propaganda which suggests the group is the ‘fastest growing religion on planet Earth’ and its buildings are a constant hub of activity.
Perhaps most worrying of all, inspectors found that staff members “place ownership and responsibility for food hygiene compliance on others” and did not make use the appropriate disinfectant and cleaning solutions required to maintain a safe space for food preparation. Their report noted that no soap was provided and the café’s washbasin “was full of stationery” and “the tap was scaled up”.
Food allergen information was not widely available, with the report advising Scientology “communication to customers needs to be improved” and that “foods that are pre-packed for direct sale must be labelled appropriately with a list of ingredients containing emphasised allergens.”
Scientology doctrine suggests that food allergies are ‘psychosomatic’ and can be cured through the process of auditing. L. Ron Hubbard’s book Dianetics explains his theory that allergies are caused by the re-stimulation of past traumatic events and are not real medical conditions, in contrast to the evidence-based science that is broadly accepted by medical professionals.
On the question, “have staff received training on allergen awareness, dealing with customer requests and on providing allergen information?” the City of London’s report simply states “No”.
London is the Church of Scientology’s lowest rated premises in the United Kingdom for food hygiene standards, with their Birmingham and Saint Hill properties both achieving 5 star ratings following inspections on 16th September 2024 and 24th November 2023, respectively.
According to former Scientology executive Marc Headley, “at the International Scientology Base in the California desert, a commercial kitchen prepared meals for the nearly 1000 Scientology Sea Org members who worked there. This kitchen was undermanned and operated by Scientology Sea Org members. If the local food inspectors showed up at the base unannounced, they would have them wait at the main gate or reception for as long as they needed to have an “all hands” to get the kitchen cleaned up.”
“Even then,” he says, “there were times when they did not pass, and they were gaming the system. There were at least 2 to 3 times when the crew got food poisoning en masse. Following the local rules and regulations is an inconvenience for Scientology, and they do it ONLY when they might be caught and have this result in Bad PR.”
You can read the City of London’s 2024 inspection report below:
