Interactive map shows Britain's ZERO star food hygiene ratings trends now

Across Britain, people are at risk of contracting food poisoning because of poor hygiene standards in takeaways, sandwich bars, pubs and restaurants. 

According to data released by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) there are currently more than 800 establishments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with a food rating of zero. 

In Scotland, there is a different rating system where businesses either pass or need improvement.

Businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are scored out of five and firms must be marked at least a three to pass muster. Last month, a report by the Food Standards Agency found one in five UK takeaways failed basic food handling an cleanliness checks.

Environmental Health Officers have told MailOnline that they work with business owners to bring up their facilities to the required standard. If this does not succeed then it is possible that a firm could be sent forward for prosecution. 

According to the Sentencing Council, food safety and hygiene breaches can be tried either at Magistrates' Court where the maximum fine was capped at £5,000 per offence until 2015, when the law was amended. In April 2021, Tesco was fined a record £7.56million after admitting 22 breaches of the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations by selling out of date food. 

Among those receiving a zero rating is AMR Catering in Hay-on-Wye, home to the town's Conservative Club. 

It was found to need major improvement in the hygienic handling of food and urgent improvement on the systems and checks in place to show that food is safe to eat. 

The cleanliness of the venue was 'generally satisfactory'.  

On January 3, inspectors from Bradford Council visited the Euro Mix supermarket on Haworth Road. 

The store is located on a small terrace between a sandwich bar and a Tesco Express on the north west outskirts of the city.   

A Bradford Council Spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Food hygiene inspections are being undertaken by our Environmental Health Service at premises across the district including Euro Mix. 

'Whilst these inspections and any revisits or further action are carried out we are unable to share any information on individual cases, however once complete we would be in a position to release our findings.

'As always high standards of food safety in our local businesses is a key priority for Environmental Health and firm action will be taken to remove any unsafe food from businesses in order to reduce the risks and protect the health of our residents across district.'

A week later, on officials from Manchester City Council attended Pronto Pizza in Kingsway, Manchester to conduct a food safety inspection. The firm was one of 5,624 places serving food in the city. 

It is on a parade of shops around three miles south of the city centre. 

Officials said the business needed to make major improvements on the way it handled food, the cleanliness of the facilities and the provision of hand washing facilities and adequate pest control. 

The firm was also warned about staff training and whether food served by the business was being served as 'safe to eat'.  

In total, there are currently more than 13,000 businesses that do not reach the minimum three star standard. 

A KFC restaurant on High Road Leytonstone E11 received a zero rating after it was inspected on August 9, 2022 when officials found 'urgent improvement necessary' across the standards measured. 

The Leytonstone store received the lowest rating of all KFCs inspected last year. A further five were rated between one and two - below the minimum acceptable standard of three. 

At Burger King, four restaurants received ratings of one and two, including the outlet inside Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre which was inspected on December 13.  

The McDonald's restaurant in Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London received a rating of two on December 5, one of four to fail an inspection since June 2021. 

According to a spokesperson for the Food Standards Agency: 'If the local authority food safety officer finds that a business’s hygiene standards are very poor and there is an imminent risk to health – this means food is not safe to eat – the officer must act to make sure that consumers are protected. 

'This could mean prohibiting part of an operation or closing the food business down until it is safe to recommence operation. A local authority food safety officer will work closely with food businesses that get low ratings to make sure they improve their standards. 

'They will tell the business how quickly these improvements must be made which will depend on the type of issue that needs to be addressed. As well as giving advice and guidance, officers have several enforcement tools that they can use to make sure that the improvements are made.' 

During 2022, 1,335 food businesses were rated zero in 2022 and this has fallen to 806, though this figure changes daily when new ratings are added. 

The spokesperson continued: 'The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) gives people information about the hygiene standards in food businesses, and they can use the rating to help decide where to eat out or shop for food.

'Ratings are a snapshot of the standards of food hygiene found at the time of inspection by food safety officers from local authorities.

'The scheme gives business ratings from 5 (very good) to 0 (urgent improvement required). Ratings can be found online and on the green and black stickers displayed at business premises.'

The spokesperson added: 'The FSA advice to people when choosing where to shop, eat out or order food is to check that the business has a food hygiene rating and choose only those with a higher rating.'