To still eat at this place?

[Lostsocksaresoannoying]

I've just found out that my absolute favourite takeaway has a food hygiene rating of 1.

Dh and I have been eating from this place for 15 years almost every other week with no problems. We've never found anywhere else like it in terms of we just love the food. We don't go out much and our weekend takeaway is just about the highlight of our week. We're not generally fussed about takeaways we just don't bother but we love this place.

We didn't go in somewhere for lunch today as it was rated 3, displayed in the window and I'm quite fussy about food hygiene, or at least I thought I was, we were saying how we wonder what our favourite takeaway is as we've never checked. So we checked online and it's rated 1, which means major improvements needed.

Aibu to just pretend I don't know and carry on eating from there.

How low does the rating have to be for a place to get shut down?

We'd never even thought to look at the rating for our local Indian. And we live in a wee place, so there really aren't that many options, but it's all ok because it's all delicious, etc etc.

Anyway. After years DH got horrendous food poisoning and I had the bright idea of checking the ratings. It was a 1. My point being, you'll trot along fine, until you don't.

I wouldn’t eat there. If it was a brand new score then I might wait it out and see if it was just a one-off issue they immediately resolved, but since the score is from March they either don’t care or don’t think they can do any better on re-inspection.

There’s a lot of revolting things that can be going on in kitchens that won’t necessarily make you sick. Just because you’re not getting food poisoning doesn’t mean it’s not really gross.

I've just looked at my local chinese. Overall 2, but food hygiene and safety was good. It was the structural compliance and confidence in management that let it down.

DP recently got horrible D&V after a take away from there. I've used it for years without a problem, but I never have chicken. DP had chicken - probably Campylobacter central.

I'd probably find somewhere else tb

I honestly wouldn’t care. I’d choose to believe they had a bad day on the day of the inspection and order as usual. But then I’m disgusting.

“Although I do wonder how we haven't got unwell from the food. Do you think it's just luck that we haven't?”

Is it a place with a wood-fired oven? And do they pull out the pizza on a flat implement and slide it straight into the box without touching it? If so, it’s reasonably unlikely your pizza would be contaminated.

In addition, healthy adults with good immune systems can withstand a lot. My job used to involve going round farms. Most were spotless inside and I had many lovely cups of coffee. But just now and then, I would accept the offer, then go in to find the place was utterly revolting. Still drank the coffee and never caught anything.

It’s pretty grim, having a 1 star. But I know we chose to eat several times from a Bangladeshi restaurant on holiday despite their 3 star rating as the food was so delicious.

I live outside the U.K. though, and here all restaurants have to display their rating near where you go in. I’ve seen similar in parts of England and I’m amazed it’s not the same all over the U.K.

Anyone who has eaten roadside food in a third world country as there's no other option starts to worry less about things though! Our benchmark there was 1. Is it cooked through well 2. Does it seem fairly freshly cooked

We certainly had to get whole new standards when travelling to some places

If you get a zero/1 rating you usually get a period of time to rectify the situation, then EHO will come back and check and usually score a 5.

Food Hygiene ratings are usually down to paperwork (there’s a lot) and incorrect storing of raw/cooked foods. You can get a zero rating for not putting the temp of the fridge in properly for example. Or if you keep a covered packet on a shelf too close to the floor. It’s done for a reason, but it is bloody finickety.

I'm not sure what do you want people to say? No one knows why they got a 1 and no one can tell you if there's anything wrong with the food.

If you're happy to eat there knock yourself out, what other people think has no effect on the quality of the food.

If they inspected my kitchen I'd probably get zero, but I'm still alive and well...

Snap!

I've had this before loved this pizza place still go because I've never had a problem but a girl on facebook posted a photo with a fly in her pizza. Which didn't put me off I'm ashamed to say.

I also had this with an Indians I used to go order online. They also made Indian pizzas which I loved. I decided to go there one day the shop was grim filthy floor ripped couch etc. This man was making a pizza and he dropped the pizza cutter on the floor. He didn't pick it up for ages then when he did he just went on cutting the next pizza. No washing it nothing.

If you've been going for years I would probably still go.

I wouldn't, but would be really interested in the reasons they got a 1.

My local Chinese is 1 star and we order from there all the time !

Oh I just checked and my local has gone from a 1 to a 4. Phew!

I started managing a cafe once and our first visit we got a 1!
Our cleaning and hygiene were really good however we lost a lot of points for structural problem. Flaking paint, cracks in the floors, old freezers, broken tiles. You can get a low score for not keeping up to date paperwork, untrained staff and not having lids on bins etc
A 1 doesn't always mean the place is infested- if it's that bad they close it down until it's up to an acceptable standard but a business can still operate at a level 1.

I can't believe the amount of people on here saying it's mainly paperwork, what are you talking about!!!! I would assume these people have not been through a health hygiene inspection. Yes paperwork is a feature but no reason at all to think that's what they failed on. Do staff know how and when to wash hands, is cross contamination happening, what knives and boards are being used to cut what, how are things being stored, how is cleaning being done, are there signs of animal droppings or insect carcasses, do staff have access to a toilet and hand washing facilities. It's really not hard to get a 5. I wouldn't eat anywhere with less than 4/5 3 at a stretch, 1 nope definitely not. The fact that they haven't gone for reinspection implies that actually they don't really care.
Every mouthful I'd be thinking "is that a cockroachs leg or mushroom?" And "I wonder if the person who sliced this washed his hands?" It's gross.
As for the person saying Chinese is usually made fresh, seriously delusional, then to follow it up by "I mean places like China town" wow!!!! China town is notoriously known for being authentic as in totally blind to uk health and hygiene, the safety rating are very poor and especially storage of food and reheating is a massively poor area. Just because something is well known doesn't mean it's rating reflects that.

@HiJenny35 er yes it is usually paperwork. I’ve been general manager of a hotel/restaurant group so I know what I’m talking about. I’ve probably had upwards of 50 EHO inspections whilst I worked in hospitality, most of them 5 star. The low ones were because of the paperwork, nothing in regards to food hygiene that would make anyone unwell.

I've been on joint visits with EHO's.

No I would not eat at a 1 star establishment.
Ideally you should not have food from anything less than 3 stars.

I stopped using a pizza takeaway when I found it had a 2. I’m very susceptible to tummy upsets but I wouldn’t use somewhere that got a low rating anyway. Sorry if previous posters have said this but will the council give out details of why it’s only got a 1. If you knew you could make a more informed decision.

The low ones were because of the paperwork, nothing in regards to food hygiene that would make anyone unwell

So you're basically saying none of your premises had poor hygiene?

If so then you can't really pass comment in whether other places with low ratings have poor hygiene or not as you don't know how levels of poor hygiene relate to the scores.

My absolute favourite pizza place is a 1.
Someone on Facebook shared the "worst rated local takeaways" I couldn't believe it when my favourite pizza place was a 1!
Never been ill from it but moved house and they don't deliver to the new area.
I will add I've now found a new pizza place that is even better! Really! And they're rating is a 5.
So I've got a better deal and less likely to get poorly.
Glad we moved now to be honest.
Best. Pizza. Ever.

The score is made up of three elements.
Good hygiene: correct temperatures, correct storage, food handling procedures, lack of cross contamination.
Structure: cleaning and the actual structure, so cracked tiles, flaking paint, dirty surfaces
Confidence in management: paperwork and training.

To close a premises there must be an immininet risk of injury to health. So, pest infestations, drainage or sewage issues, implicated in a outbreak.

A one can mean that one area was so poor that it didn't matter that the other areas were OK, or it can mean all three categories were poor.

There will be interventions going on, like repeat visits and legal notices being served.

The best thing you can do Is speak to the restaurant. If they don't realise that the poor score is putting you off, there's not much noti action to change the score, even with legal intervention, some food business just don't care. Not all, but there's a persistent proportion that take a cavalier attitude to food hygiene.

Look at the report and see why. Not filling in the folders correctly, having things unlabelled, not sending people on courses (when they know all the stuff already) ... none of which are dangerous but cause low scores

Why don't you contact your environmental health/ council people who deal with this and ask for further information?
My favourite Chinese restaurant suddenly got awarded a 1 and I was horrified. I called up the inspector people and they said they failed the inspection based on paperwork and they were working to help them. A few months later they were reinspected and got a 4.

I've emailed the council to ask to see the report.

I don't think I could enjoy the food now, really hoping that they clean up their act soon.