Food Hygiene "zero" scores - loads of places listed by Just Eat

Order your takeaway at your own peril:

I’m a bit confused by this. Inspectors have the power to shut places down for remediation if they are a risk to customer health.

The bottom two rankings are:
1 – major improvement is necessary
0 – urgent improvement is required

These sound extremely similar, but anyway if urgent improvement is required (or necessary?) as per the examples in the article, shouldn’t they all just be shut down? Nothing will make it more urgent for the business owner.

You make a point often made here. Inspectors do close places but it seems to be a relative rarity bearing in mind the number of zero rated outlets.

There is an issue about inspections in my mind which relates to the financial constraints on local councils. For example, I’ve just looked at a couple of places in my village, both of which have a 1. Now, you’d think that the inspectors would keep a close eye on places like that but these rankings date to 2016, presumably suggesting that the staff are under such pressure that they simply cannot do what is needed.

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That was a stomach-turning report. It’s a bit baffling how any business owner could let their building harbor such crud continuously.

Ignorance is bliss.

If I’ve been there before or heard it was a bit run-down but really good, I’ll still go.

Inspectors may have their own biases or agendas. I got docked for keeping fresh eggs in the shells above less potentially hazardous ingredients. As if they might spontaneously explode and spew salmonella. I’ve also worked in kitchens that had mice, couldn’t do much about them beyond set traps and be sure to sanitize thoroughly and seal all food tightly.

Even Thomas Keller’s Per Se has gotten some bad sanitation scores. Not zero, but worse than you’d expect.

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At least one place has got its comeuppance with the Liverpool outlet of national chain Piccolino, beign closed by health inspectors and getting a fairly hefty fine.

Whilst it might improve the health aspect of their business, I doubt it’s going to do much for improvin gthe quality of their overpriced, very indifferent food. We’ve not been back to one since 2016 when I wrote this as part of my review - “Sirloin steak was generally disappointing – underflavoured, underseasoned and quite scaggy. Chips and salad are chargeable extras. They were fine, although this now turns what initially looks like a reasonably priced steak into a pricy and poor value one.”