To avoid restaurants with food hygiene rating below 5?

[Urchinn]

I'm bemused by a Facebook thread where locals have recommended restaurants which I know to have a food hygiene rating of 3. Do they not know? Do they not care? Is 3 good enough? AIBU to eat only from restaurants with a rating of 5?

I've never ever checked. Life is too short. I've also never had food poisoning and I eat out loads. I also don't know anyone else who cares.

Is this a Mumsnet thing?

At a former job I had, the establishment lost a point due to minor paperwork errors, despite being utterly pristine. I'd go to a 3 or 4

Pretty much every chinese takeaway around here seems to be 1 or 2. Luckily the one I like is a 4. For restaurants I would notice if they had a 4 or 5 notice stuck up but I don't tend to go looking unless someone points out it is low. I've never seen a restaurant with a notice up of a 1 or 2 or even 3. I guess they don't advertise it!

In Wales restaurants have to display the rating so it's not a case of checking, it'll be on the door. Or on the wall hidden behind a plant if it's bad.

I wouldn’t eat below a 5. I do however find it shocking that low rated establishments are able to change their business name to avoid being associated with a low hygiene rating!

I genuinely don't care.

i’ve never checked the hygiene rating of anywhere in my life. i only found out our local chinese had been getting consistently bad ratings when the local paper ran a story about it. doesn’t bother me in the slightest tbh - we’ve been eating from there for years, the food is lovely, and none of us have ever been ill so… we’re actually having it for tea tonight and we’re all excited

I think a 4 is probably fine but agree with you overall. There’s a sushi place here that was rated a 1 for ages it’s a 4 now but I still haven’t been there...

@WaterBottle123

I've never ever checked. Life is too short. I've also never had food poisoning and I eat out loads. I also don't know anyone else who cares.

Is this a Mumsnet thing?

No, it’s not a MN thing- the local paper periodically runs articles about which places have bad/good ratings

@PattyPan

Right. I also don't read local papers as they are petty Tory drivel

I’ve just done a course on this for work. To get a 5 you need a proper HACCP which is essentially a paper trail. It includes things like which suppliers you use, ensuring delivery vans are clean (from the supplier!), checking temperatures of fridges and freezers, date labels, the layout of the kitchen and food preparation areas, having enough sinks and signage, food waste management, gaps being sealed around doors and windows, preventing rodents and other pests, and a little bit on ensuring staff are washing their hands enough.

Usually it’s easy enough to get a 5 if you use the pack they want you to use, but a big part of it is down to correct storage and layout. Having worked in a kitchen with hygiene ratings of 5, and another of 4 (tiny kitchen and a horrendous layout that absolutely cannot be changed yet) I’d stick to 3 and above.

Just eat displays then hygiene rating on the listing, which is really helpful. The previous poster that stated if it’s below a 4 they found pests is completely untrue. If a pest was found they immediately shut the business until it’s under control - it legally cannot reopen until it’s sorted. You do have to have a pest control system though, which as as simple as a contract with a proper pest control company.

I always check before we go, but do not take out as gospel because things can change, especially if it's been a while since the inspection. We used to use our local Chinese which was a 5 rating, and had this displayed in the window. I was checking another establishment with a similar name and it corrected to this one and it had recently been given a 1 rating! I was horrified tbh. And the 5*, rating sticker stayed in the window.

Thanks@Em8725 for the insight.

@WaterBottle123 I’m no Tory but I do love the petty nosiness factor of local papers Ours also publishes a list of cases recently sentenced in the magistrates court, complete with the street the offender lives on! Plus it’s helpful when you hear loads of sirens and wonder what’s going on.

I'm an Environmental Health Officer. 3 is my limit. I wouldn't go lower.

God, life is way too short for this tedious bollocks. If somewhere looked filthy I'd probably swerve it but otherwise I never think about it. My kitchen certainly wouldn't get a 5 and we're all fine.

I agree OP. At most I might visit a 4 star place in a favourite spot (e.g. by the sea) but would be careful with which food I chose (e.g. no chicken). However the main bakery in our (fairly posh) town has a food hygiene rating of 1 star and we used to shop there without realising because they don't display their rating on the door! I'm now horrified that we ate from there but luckily we didn't get sick.

It's never occurred to me to check ratings.

I don’t actively check, but if I realised somewhere was a 1 or 2 I’d avoid it. Went for a meal with friends once where the popular choice was vetoed because it was a 3 - I was a bit annoyed because I’d really wanted to go and I got the impression that the person who revealed it thought we’d all be horrified at the revelation. Wouldn’t have put me off.

I worked in a cafe when I was a teen, and in the morning I used to have to go and heat the foods that would go in the bain marie for the lunchtime menu. There would be potatoes, mushy peas, carrots, soup (of different varieties) chicken curry, rice, chilli con carne, amongst other things. Basically, anything that wasn't used that day, was poured into large containers and put the the fridge, and reheated every day until it was used up. Makes me wary of places because you just wouldn't do that at home.
Those saying they don't check ratings and it's ridiculous to do so are foolish, you are putting your life in someone's else's hands!

I think YABU. Food hygiene matters to me, however from speaking to people in the industry I believe the visits are pre organised and only a quick physical inspection of the premises and the rest is all about paperwork. You can have the best written procedures ever but that doesnt actually prove what happens in reality.

Our favourite chinese takeaway has a rating of 1. We stopped using it for a while, but returned because nowhere else was as good. Never been ill as a result.

If they can’t present their paperwork they get a one rating til a revisit - the score isn’t a hard and fast indication of cleanliness

4 is ok. I wouldn’t go below that personally.

3 means ‘generally satisfactory’. Which also = not completely satisfactory.

I don’t really get the ratings - it’s either hygienic or it isn’t, what’s the point in saying good vs very good. I imagine the average kitchen is a 3 or 4. I doubt if you ate at a relative’s house their kitchen would have a 5.