Christmas parties mean City Road takeaways are busy at this time of year but some of them do not meet basic hygiene requirements. The Food Hygiene Rating Law in 2013 will make it mandatory for food outlets to display their hygiene rating, as only one third are currently displaying their score. This comprehensive look at City Road’s takeaways shows Cardiff’s party-goers who is up to scratch and who needs to buck-up their ideas before the new law comes into force.

Wales is the only country in the UK where all of its 22 local authorities are signed up to the Food Hygiene Rating scheme. Under the scheme, local authority inspectors pay surprise visits to restaurants and give them a hygiene rating between 0 and 5. Displaying your hygiene rating is voluntary at present but under the new law restaurants could face fines between £200 and £1000 if they fail to display them. Restaurants are assessed by:

How hygienically the food is handled

The condition and structure of the building

How the business manages and records what it does to make sure the food is safe

City Road’s Hygiene Map

5 = Very Good

4 = Good

3 = Generally Satisfactory

2 = Improvement Necessary

1 = Major Improvement Necessary

0 = Urgent Improvement Necessary

Voxpop – Would you still eat there?

What the owners said

Lilo Bar and Grill – a popular restaurant, serving a wide range middle-eastern dishes. Lilo scored ‘0’ when it was assessed on October 8, 2012. Businesses rated as ‘0’ must make major improvements and are visited every few weeks until improvements are made. A rating of ‘0’ does not mean the food is unsafe to eat – it means there is a high risk of food becoming contaminated unless changes are made. Habib Mhamdi, manager of Lilo’s, said: “We separated the display from meat and salad and we sorted out the contamination of food in the fridge and adjusted the temperature in the restaurant.

“The inspector came back and said everything was perfect about a week ago.”

UPDATE: Lilo’s rating has not yet been updated.

Casa Bianca – one of City Road’s only fine dining restaurants but it scored ‘1’ when it was inspected on January 11, 2011.

Zac Chowdhury, the owner, said: “They marked us down because there was a bit of tiling, which since we have done, and some paperwork we needed to do and they wanted the back door sealed. Apart from that they said it was a fantastic job.”

Mr Chowdhury said he agreed with making the display of hygiene ratings mandatory: “It’s for awareness. Anything for our guests to know what they are eating is from a healthy, clean environment.”

Casa Bianca does not currently display its hygiene rating.

UPDATE: Casa Bianca has now closed for unknown reasons as the owner cannot be contacted. If anyone has any information about what happened to Casa Bianca please let us know.

Milgi – this popular art café scored ‘3’ when it was last rated on November 7, 2011. Hannah Canning, the manager, said: “I know it was a long time ago. The only thing they said we needed to make sure was that we were putting date stickers on our cartons.

“Since then we have had a new bar fitted which is stainless steel and is obviously more hygienic. We have daily cleaning rotas and we are really strict with cleaning. We should score higher next time they come round.”

UPDATE: Milgi has still not had its hygiene updated since November 7, 2011.

City Kebab – has proved that not all kebab shops are greasy with a score of ‘4’ when it was rated on March 24, 2011. Amin Awat, the owner, said: “Whatever they ask we do it for them. We clean every day but we do a deep clean twice a week. The reason she didn’t give me five is because I had some tiles and didn’t have them grouted. I am happy but I want five.”

UPDATE: City Kebab dropped three places on the hygiene scale when it was rated ‘1’ on January 25, 2013.

A spokeswoman from Food Standards Agency Wales said: “Certainly not everyone is displaying the stickers – especially those with lower ratings. As you go along City Road you may see businesses that are showing a rating but if they aren’t it could also be that the business has not yet been inspected.

“What the new law does is it gives the customer a good idea of what goes on behind the kitchen door. Already we have seen that the low-rated businesses are decreasing.” Only 17% of businesses now have a low rating of 0, 1 or 2 compared to 23% in 2011.

A spokesperson from the Welsh Government said the new law aims to drive up hygiene ratings as businesses will be forced to display their ratings, even if they are low.

Next Christmas I wonder if people stumbling home from staff parties will move on when they see ‘1’ on the door of a City Road takeaway or if they will go ahead and order a kebab – because everything tastes good when you are drunk.

Find out more

Search for restaurant hygiene ratings

Frequently asked questions about food hygiene ratings

First mandatory hygiene rating scheme in the UK to be introduced in Wales

Food Hygiene Rating Bill (Wales) – The purpose of the Bill

Food Hygiene Rating Bill – Frequently Asked Questions