Revealed: The Walsall food shops and takeaways with ZERO hygiene ratings
Nearly a fifth of all Walsall food outlets have been told to make hygiene improvements by environmental health inspectors – while nine have been given the lowest possible rating.
Officers visit businesses to check how well they are meeting standards by looking at how hygienically food is handled, how suitable their buildings and facilities are and how the business manages and records to make sure food is safe.
Each inspection is given a standard from 'zero' to 'five'– from 'urgent improvement necessary' for zero, to 'major improvement necessary' for one, to 'improvement necessary' for two, 'generally satisfactory' for three, 'good' for four and 'very good' for five.
In Walsall, of the town's 1,608 outlets, nine were given a 'zero' rating, 152 were rated at 'one' and a further 101 at 'two'.
See also: Find out which food places in Sandwell had zero ratings
According to the Food Standards Agency website, 'zero' ratings have been given to: J T F Wholesale Ltd on Bescot Retail Park, which was assessed on February 16, 2015; Bucuresti Mini Market on Caldmore Green, assessed on May 23, 2016; Caldmore Hall on Caldmore Road, inspected on May 17, 2016. Other 'zero' ratings were given to Chicken.com on Stafford Street, assessed on February 24, 2016; Crown Grill & Fish Bar also on Stafford Street, assessed on May 25, 2016; Dera on Caldmore Road, assessed on May 17, 2016; East End Tandoori and Balti on Hawes Close, assessed on May 19, 2016; Kobani on West Bromwich Street, assessed on June 1, 2016, and New Kebab Ranch on Bradford Street. That was assessed on January 6, 2016.
All were contacted for comment by the Express & Star.
Ahmed Nawaz, who has owned Dera for five years, said: "It was very unfortunate that we got zero, we try our upmost. Because it's a big property to keep the big property is a bit difficult but we try our best."
