[title]
A long brown hair in your spaghetti, a plate of pink, undercooked chicken, a smear of old encrusted sauce on the table – the thought of low hygiene standards at a restaurant is enough to make a person retch. And in some unfortunate news for the foodies of London, its been revealed that eateries in the capital have the worst food hygiene ratings in the whole UK.
High Speed Training (HST) is one of the UK’s biggest providers of food hygiene courses, so it knows its stuff. Every year it crunches Food Standards Agency (FSA) data for more than 240,000 food business (restaurants, canteens, takeaways, bars, pubs, hotels, etc.) across the UK to rank each region based on their level of food hygiene.
Before you spit out your food, London’s food hygiene score isn’t actually that bad. Although it does sit at the bottom of the pack, its average food hygiene score is 4.38 out of five, which means that the hygiene at most of our eateries sits between ‘good’ and ‘very good’. The rating takes into account the handling of food, how food is stored, how it’s prepared, the cleanliness of the facilities and how food safety is managed.
When we break it down by borough, Kensington and Chelsea is the most hygienic place in the city with an average rating of 4.79. London’s lowest rating went to Waltham Forest, with an average of 3.89 out of five. To Waltham’s credit, that is an ever-so-slight improvement on last year’s score of 3.74.
Of the city’s 36,383 premises, 149 were slapped with a big fat zero from the FSA this year, indicating ‘urgent improvement needed’ and 774 scored one, meaning that there is ‘major improvement needed’. Yuck.
Rest assured that you are largely in safe hands when you eat out in the capital, though. HST’s report found that 83.1 percent of London’s premises have a food hygiene rating of four or five.
Dr Richard Anderson, the head of learning and development at High Speed Training, said: ‘Our report shows that, on average, standards remain high across the UK, and have improved from 2024. This commitment to correct food hygiene training for staff, alongside robust food management procedures and everyday good practices are crucial to keep performing at high standards.
‘We would also urge customers to check the food hygiene ratings of establishments they wish to dine at, so that an informed call as to whether you eat there can be made.’
Find superb (and safe!) food over on Time Out’s list of the 50 greatest restaurants in London.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.