Food giants' low food hygiene ratings in Wales

The Pontypool branch of KFC received a zero rating

Food giants including Asda, Tesco, KFC, Costa, Subway and The Co-operative Food have outlets in Wales which scored poorly in food hygiene ratings.

KFC in Pontypool was given a zero score on the Food Standards Agency website meaning urgent action is needed.

Co-operative stores in Pontardawe, Porth, and Birchgrove, Cardiff scored one, along with Subway in Queen Street, Cardiff and Harvester in Cardiff Bay.

Costa in Brecon, Tesco cafe in Maesteg and Asda in Aberdare had a two rating.

That means improvement is necessary.

There are more than 26,000 businesses in Wales which have ratings, carried out by local authorities and registered on the Food Standards Agency website.

Of those, more than 1,400 had a two rating or below. The highest score is five.

Harvester in Cardiff Bay was given a one rating by the Food Standards Agency

Russel Smith, chief operating officer, KFC UK, said: "I was extremely disappointed by the rating this restaurant received, which is completely unacceptable.

"We took immediate action to return the restaurant to the standards we demand and are awaiting a re-inspection which we are sure will reflect this."

A spokesman for The Co-operative Food said: "We take our store environment and hygiene procedures very seriously and these three stores represent a very small percentage of our 143 stores across Wales.

"However, as soon as we were aware of the FSA ratings for these store we adopted an action plan to address the issues and we will be requesting the FSA re-score the stores as we are confident that they will fully meet all FSA required standards."

A spokesman for Harvester said: "The business was recently re-rated by an environmental health officer whilst we carried out some essential works. That work has now been completed and we await a re-visit, so that the business can be re-rated. We are confident that the day to day food safety and hygiene practices remain at a high standard."

A Tesco spokesman said: "On the day of the inspection at our Maesteg store cafe there was an issue with the hot water temporarily not working. This has been resolved and colleagues have been retrained on what to do if this happens. We're awaiting a new inspection from the local authority."

A Costa spokesman said: "We set very high standards for both our own and franchise owned stores and will be working to ensure this matter is addressed as a matter of urgency."

Asda said it has applied to be re-rated.

A spokesman added: "We pride ourselves on upholding the highest standards of hygiene in our stores and while on this occasion there were some areas of improvement to be made, we can assure customers that we are in the process of making those improvements and bringing the store back up to our own high standards."

Subway said the rating has been noted incorrectly. It said the store was awarded a four and they are waiting for it to be rectified.

A Cardiff council spokesman said: "The council takes these matters very seriously and there seems to be a discrepancy in this specific case which is currently being reviewed and the risk rating will be confirmed shortly."

What inspectors look for

• how hygienically the food is handled - how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored

• the condition of the structure of the buildings - the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities

• how the business manages what it does to make sure food is safe and so that the officer can be confident standards will be maintained in the future

How it works

The rating shows how well the business is doing overall but takes account of elements most in need of improving and also the level of risk to people's health any of these issues pose.

This is because some businesses will do well in some areas and less well in others but each of the three elements checked is essential for making sure that food hygiene standards meet requirements and the food served or sold to you is safe to eat.

To get the top rating of '5', businesses must do well in all three elements.

Those with ratings of '0' are very likely to be performing poorly in all three elements and are likely to have a history of serious problems. There may, for example, be a lack of sufficient cleaning and disinfection, and there may not be a good enough system of management in place to check and record what the business does to make sure the food is safe.