Do you care about hygiene rating?

[beckietheconqueror]

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?

Yes I always look at the hygiene rating - curb appeal is also important, if somewhere looks grubby and unkept outside I’m not stepping inside.

I do. I only eat in places with a 5.

I always think the customer toilets are an indication. If they're well decorated and clean, it usually means they're not cutting corners elsewhere.

Yes. Though I don't check every single place I eat at but generally check for takeaways (after realising the one we were using had a rating of 1 🤢)

As an ex-chef, I’ll eat at a 4. I know there are things (not fully food/hygiene related) that can drop a rating from a 5 to a 4. I.e, structural issues, poor management (a rating you can get if a manager has taken the day off sick, new unconfident manager, etc) areas clearly understood and abided by but not labelled.

below a 4, I won’t touch it. YANBU.

There's a few of those types round here too.

DP used to drive a bin lorry that was emptying the bins mainly from restaurants and takeaways.

When he was being shown the round and introduced to the customers, he was instructed by his colleague for a few of the worst ones to 'give the bin a kick and step back' so all the rats would run away before he started moving the bin 😱

Of course I do. The thought of a low hygiene rating turns my stomach. I always check and never eat something from a place with below a 4 or 5.

Also I'm a vegetarian often eating vegan which is why I allow a 4!

Iena this is nonsense though in therms of probability. Yes you could get food poisoning form a 5 rated place. But you are more likely to get it from a lower rated place. So to not check now due to that one incident is bonkers. You do you though it's your health.

Yes, I always look at the hygiene rating. It needs to be at least a 4. That’s not being snobby, the rating is there for a reason.

i wouldn't eat anywhere less then a 3 and that is pushing it for me. i am surprised your DH hasn't been ill! He must have guts of steel!

They are no guarantee. It's only a snapshot on the day and things can change rapidly.

DP and I ate at a local hotel with a 5 rating and he was ill with food poisoning for the next two days. Next time I checked it had been awarded a 1 rating 2 days after we'd visited!

I’ve just moved back to London from abroad and realised I hadn’t actually checked our local Chinese that we order from once a week. It’s a 2 🤢.

it’s the Chinese that everyone uses, so now I’m so confused. I’ve friends that will drive 30 mins just to go to this place it’s that nice.

the rating was awarded in 2018, so could have changed hands in that time? How often are places checked, I always assumed it would be every year.

A year or so ago I decided to try a local Indian takeaway. Did not look that closely at the ratings.
While waiting the two on the kitchen we're talking about how I'll they had been with a stomach bug . One had only stopped throwing up that morning. I left

sorrY yo hijack the thread but Does anyone know if Greece have a food hygiene rating system

I don't mind too much, I've eaten in plenty of dodgy places with a 5 I'm not sure it always means a lot. I think my favourite Thai had 2 for a while but really old building as someone said, I think the kitchen probably very small. Never regretted eating there!

If it had changed hands in that time it would have temporarily gone back to 'awaiting rating' - same as with a new food business - until the next inspection.

Inspections aren't every year, but normally lower scores and higher risk food stuffs will lead to a more frequent inspection.

https://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/ lets you order your local authority's results by date of last inspection.

I've just checked mine and some haven't been inspected since 2010 (Boots, and some primary school breakfast clubs), but there's some really surprising ones that haven't been inspected in 10-12 years - a nursing home, many supermarkets, someone doing hot sauces and an ice cream van. The oldest 2 goes back to 2019. There's some businesses which have been awaiting their very first inspection for 4 years - they could be doing everything perfectly but we just don't know.

I'm in the industry and even I was slightly surprised at 13 years and counting between inspections.

I won’t eat at 4 or less. All our local Chinese takeaways are 3 or less 🥴

Thought you would all enjoy this...
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-05-02/decomposing-mouse-and-dropping-in-cheeseburger-lands-mcdonalds-with-big-fine

One of many reasons not to eat at McDonald's! 🤢

Yet most McDonalds will get a 5 for hygiene ratings and that sort of thing will be very much a one off.

According to this out of 1226 rated McDonalds, only 51 got 4 or less.

The big fine is not a reflection of the significance of the offence, more about the amount of money they have to fine a company of that size for them to feel it. If it had been a small independent takeaway, they'd have probably been fined about 1% of that amount.

To follow up on the above, only 3 got 3 or less. Whether or not you like the food, just about all McDonalds restaurants get full marks for hygiene and food safety.

Personally,I won't eat in or buy food from anywhere that has a hygiene rating of less than 4. Thankfully,all the places I like are 4s or 5s.

I think I might have ruined an acquaintances night out today - they mentioned they were going to a local Chinese restaurant, I told them they had a 1 for food hygiene and had been prosecuted for hygiene offences a few years ago...

I always check and generally only eat at 5 places , I may make an exception for a 4 if it looks really clean as I assume the 1* drop isn’t due to hygiene .