Just Eat is now displaying the food hygiene ratings of all its restaurants The decision follows an investigation that found Just Eat was hosting hundreds of restaurants with poor food hygiene scores

Just Eat has become the first online food delivery company to publish the official food hygiene rating of every restaurant listed on its platform after it emerged it was promoting a slew of businesses with a score of just one.

Customers will now be presented with Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene information for all the restaurants and takeaway shops hosted on the Just Eat platform, allowing diners to avoid the low-scoring outlets that they may otherwise have ordered from.

How does the food hygiene rating system work? In England, Wales and Northern Ireland businesses are awarded a score of zero to five under the food hygiene rating scheme. A zero ranking indicates that “urgent improvement” around hygiene standards is necessary while a five assures diners that these standards are “very good”. The i newsletter latest news and analysis Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. There are three different ratings in Scotland – pass, meaning that a business meets the legal requirements for food hygiene; improvement required, which signifies it does not meet these standards; and exempt premises, when it meets the pass criteria but is not a place you would normally think of as a food outlet – for example, a gift shop that sells tins of biscuits. Businesses in Wales and Northern Ireland are obliged to display their rating in a prominent place at their premises, but those in England and Scotland are not required to. It is not mandatory for FSA ratings to be shown online though.

Poor hygiene scores

A recent BBC investigation found more than 400 outlets with a rating of one were being hosted on Just Eat and its rival Deliveroo in Manchester, Birmingham and London alone.

Commenting on the findings at the time FSA chairwoman Heather Hancock said that delivery companies were “undermining trust in food” by allowing low-scoring businesses to appear on their sites.

Ms Hancock said: “They’re not helping drive up standards, they’re not doing the consumer a service. Convenience is fantastic but convenience at what cost?”

Responding to Just Eat’s decision to display food hygiene ratings on its platform, Ms Hancock said: “Having this transparency allows consumers to consider food safety when choosing to order food online and will help drive up standards across the sector. I encourage others in this sector to follow suit.”

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