Restaurants are misleading diners with inaccurate food hygiene ratings

by · Mail Online

Eateries including a branch of Sainsbury's have been caught displaying incorrect food hygiene ratings — as the Food Standards Agency has said it takes inaccurate displays 'very seriously'.

A BBC probe into a string of East London businesses, including restaurants and newsagents, found that 27 were outright lying to customers about their cleanliness levels.

Businesses with a rating of zero, which indicates urgent improvement is needed, were found displaying four or five stars in an attempt to mislead the public.

Food Standards Agency (FSA) ratings are based on official inspections which look at how businesses prepare and store food, as well as the cleanliness and physical condition of their premises.

A rating out of five is then given, with three meaning hygiene standards are 'generally satisfactory' and anything under that requiring improvement.

The FSA has said it will 'consider' the findings of the BBC investigation and raise the issue with local authorities.  

Among the outlets exposed for misrepresenting its rating was a Sainsbury's Local on the High Road in Leyton, with a sign in the branch giving a rating of five despite it actually being zero
Nearby Café Mondial showed a rating of four when in reality it was one, meaning 'major improvement' was needed

What the ratings mean  

5 – hygiene standards are very good

4 – hygiene standards are good

3 – hygiene standards are generally satisfactory

2 – some improvement is necessary

1 – major improvement is necessary

0 – urgent improvement is necessary

A Sainsbury's Local story in Leyton displayed a top hygiene rating of five, when it's official FSA rating at the time was actually zero. The outdated sticker has now been removed from the store. 

Other eateries including Café Mondial and Nadeem Halal Meat & Grocery were also found displaying ratings higher than what they actually were. 

It comes as the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has demanded the Government make it mandatory to display hygiene ratings in England and have pushed for new legislation to bring such a law into force. 

In Wales and Northern Ireland, displaying hygiene food ratings is already mandatory. 

Professor Chris Elliott, the CIEH's vice-president said the BBC investigation was 'shocking' and that some businesses were blatantly 'cheating the public'. 

He told the BBC these practices needed to be 'stamped out' in order to expose those businesses who wish to lie, cheat and 'cut corners'.  

The outside of Nadeem Halal Meat & Grocery, which offers 'daily fresh meat' 
Nadeem Halal Meat & Grocery in Leyton was displaying a rating of three in July and August when the shop's rating was actually zero. The manager told the BBC: 'Don't worry, never a problem, never nothing' 
Scenes filmed by an undercover reporter showing cuts of meat on display (left) and what was reported to be a mouse trap (right) 

'We can't have a situation where people are falsifying the ratings and giving consumers a feeling of trust that's actually not deserved,' Prof. Elliott added. 

According to research by the CIEH, more than four or five businesses in England support the introduction of the mandatory display of food hygiene ratings. 

When approached by the BBC regarding a policy change, the Department for Health and Social Care reportedly did not answer their questions. 

The official FSA rating of the Sainsbury's store on Leyton High Road has since improved since the investigation. 

They told the BBC in response to the investigation that 95 percent of its stores had a rating of five, and that it had removed the outdated rating sticker at its Leyton High Road Local store.

Café Mondial did not respond to BBC requests for comment and Nadeem Halal Meat & Grocery store apologised and said it was retraining staff.