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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you care about hygiene rating?

125 replies

beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:18

Hi everyone!

Just wondering. Do you care about hygiene rating?

My husband likes to eat in random local fried chicken/burger shops, even when their hygiene rating is 1 or 2 stars.

There's one around the corner that looks dodgy, is always empty, and has a 1 star hygiene rating. He orders from them and a couple more regularly and calls me a snob from not wanting to.

AIBU to be cautious about it?

OP posts:
Danikm151 · 08/05/2023 23:20

I’d be cautious
It takes a lot to get a zero rating.

NewAnon · 08/05/2023 23:20

Yes, but I'm also quite obsessive.

I don't eat under 4 and wouldn't eat anything dodgy (sushi/oysters/steak tartare) under 5

Dillya · 08/05/2023 23:20

Yes, we do look up restaurants before we go to them. Only my this weekend we were going to try a new place but then decided not to after we saw it had a 3.

Rarely we will visit a ‘4.’ But usually it’s only places with a 5.

Teapleasebobb · 08/05/2023 23:21

Definitely look at hygiene rating!
When ordering takeaway, I won't order from anywhere with less than 4 star.

NewAnon · 08/05/2023 23:22

Danikm151 · 08/05/2023 23:20

I’d be cautious
It takes a lot to get a zero rating.

Especially post covid. I had a taxi driver tell me about his wife who was a hygiene inspector and how they give much more leeway these days, as restaurants suffered so much in 20/21.

Motheranddaughtertotwo · 08/05/2023 23:23

No chance am I getting food from anywhere less than a 4 and I absolutely always check.

SleazyLizzard · 08/05/2023 23:25

I find the quality of food improves with the hygiene rating, Mc Donald’s always seem to have excellent ratings.

I try to eat at a five , definitely no lower than a four.

mynameiscalypso · 08/05/2023 23:27

I'm not particularly bothered and have a lax attitude towards food risks normally but I would absolutely not go anywhere less than a 4.

TheChosenTwo · 08/05/2023 23:28

I’ll be honest, I’ve never looked up a restaurants food hygiene rating before deciding where to go for dinner!

SpaghettiSquash · 08/05/2023 23:28

Yes will only eat in a place that has a five rating. DD worked in a cafe that was rated four and I heard enough horror stories from there to mean I won't risk a four rating.

mynameiscalypso · 08/05/2023 23:30

My brother was a waiter for years. He worked in a Michelin star restaurant for about 3 days before he said he had to quit because the hygiene was so poor and when he reported it, nobody cared at all.

Lullibyebye · 08/05/2023 23:30

I never eat anywhere below a 4 and always check the ratings when ordering in too.

HeidiUpTheMountain · 08/05/2023 23:31

Some fours are the equivalent of a five - those in historic buildings are unlikely to ever get a 5 because there are things about the layout or finishes which can never be made up to 5 standard. So if it’s in a listed building, that could be all that’s keeping it from getting the 5.

So I go for 4 or 5s. Definitely nothing at the lower end - a family member is a former environmental health officer and her stories could curl your hair.

Original poster
beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:32

mynameiscalypso · 08/05/2023 23:30

My brother was a waiter for years. He worked in a Michelin star restaurant for about 3 days before he said he had to quit because the hygiene was so poor and when he reported it, nobody cared at all.

Oh wow! And that's a Michelin restaurant.
Nowadays hygiene inspections are planned, so it's easy for any food place to clean up their kitchen to get a high rating. Whether or not it's consistent is another subject

OP posts:
Mamai90 · 08/05/2023 23:33

Yuck! It would turn my stomach to eat from less than a 4. Its disgusting that he'd eat from a 1. Does he not care about washed hands or worse, rat faeces in his burgers?😖

Original poster
beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:33

HeidiUpTheMountain · 08/05/2023 23:31

Some fours are the equivalent of a five - those in historic buildings are unlikely to ever get a 5 because there are things about the layout or finishes which can never be made up to 5 standard. So if it’s in a listed building, that could be all that’s keeping it from getting the 5.

So I go for 4 or 5s. Definitely nothing at the lower end - a family member is a former environmental health officer and her stories could curl your hair.

Would you mind sharing some of those stories?
And I'm curious, what in the infrastructure of older buildings makes their rating go lower?

OP posts:
Wavescrashingonthebeach · 08/05/2023 23:34

Yes I care and some places I take one look at and know I wouldn't eat anything out of there. Everywhere I choose to go proudly has the 5 star hygiene rating displayed on the door. I'm not drawn to dives and if that makes me a snob so be it

Curtains70 · 08/05/2023 23:34

I've never bothered to look and also never had food poisoning in my life

Original poster
beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:35

Mamai90 · 08/05/2023 23:33

Yuck! It would turn my stomach to eat from less than a 4. Its disgusting that he'd eat from a 1. Does he not care about washed hands or worse, rat faeces in his burgers?😖

He said it's probably the floor that needed wiping that lowered their rating and not the actual kitchen itself.
But surely, a clean kitchen and dirty floor still doesn't warrant a 1!

OP posts:
HeidiUpTheMountain · 08/05/2023 23:36

beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:33

Would you mind sharing some of those stories?
And I'm curious, what in the infrastructure of older buildings makes their rating go lower?

Show quote history

The stories are of filth and lack of basic food hygiene, just as you’d expect.

Some of the issues for listed buildings are things like the type of wall finishes using traditional materials, having to put facilities where they fit rather than where they are ideal, because you can’t just knock down walls to make things more convenient, and so on.

Original poster
beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:38

HeidiUpTheMountain · 08/05/2023 23:36

The stories are of filth and lack of basic food hygiene, just as you’d expect.

Some of the issues for listed buildings are things like the type of wall finishes using traditional materials, having to put facilities where they fit rather than where they are ideal, because you can’t just knock down walls to make things more convenient, and so on.

Show quote history

Ahh! That makes sense

OP posts:
GettingStuffed · 08/05/2023 23:39

My sister was a manager in a,place that needed food hygiene ratings and she mentioned that having in-house training would give a higher maximum rating rather than one that outsourced.

VentBox · 08/05/2023 23:39

Living in a city it helps to whittle down the options if only considering those that are 5 star rated.

Original poster
beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:39

GettingStuffed · 08/05/2023 23:39

My sister was a manager in a,place that needed food hygiene ratings and she mentioned that having in-house training would give a higher maximum rating rather than one that outsourced.

Sorry, what's an in-house training?

OP posts:
Original poster
beckietheconqueror · 08/05/2023 23:40

VentBox · 08/05/2023 23:39

Living in a city it helps to whittle down the options if only considering those that are 5 star rated.

Definitely!

OP posts: