Britain's filthiest supermarkets and corner shops named and shamed: More than 300 fail hygiene ratings... so is YOURS one of them? | Retrui News | Retrui
Britain's filthiest supermarkets and corner shops named and shamed: More than 300 fail hygiene ratings... so is YOURS one of them?
SOURCE:Daily Mail
Our examination of Food Standards Agency (FSA) food hygiene ratings - part of a wider series unmasking the nation's dirtiest outlets - revealed 323 were so dirty they failed safety inspection.
Britain's filthiest supermarkets and corner shops are today named on the Daily Mail's annual list of shame.
Our examination of Food Standards Agency (FSA) food hygiene ratings – part of a wider series unmasking the nation's dirtiest outlets – revealed 323 were so dirty they failed safety inspection.
Nationwide, it means one in nearly 50 supermarkets fall below minimum standards.
Inspectors have found rotting food, rodent droppings, insect infestations at some of the worst-offenders, while others have been scolded after being caught storing raw chicken dangerously.
Simply input your postcode into the tool below to see how your local supermarket fares...
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all venues serving food are rated on a scale between zero and five.
A score of two or below counts as a fail because of them needing at least 'some' improvement.
The FSA data shows 140 received a rating of two.
Another 124 scored one – meaning major improvement is necessary.
Twenty-five received the lowest possible rating of zero, where 'urgent improvement is required'.
Included in the lowest bracket were two Nisas, and one each of Londis, Co-op and Iceland.
FSA research found that foodborne illness outbreaks are twice as likely to occur in zero, one or two-rated businesses than in those rated three, four or five.
In Scotland, venues are graded on a binary pass/fail basis, with 'Improvement Required' counting as a fail. There are 34 businesses that had that label on the date of the Daily Mail's audit.
Pendle had the highest rate of supermarket hygiene failures at 19 per cent, followed by Knowsley (17 per cent) and East Staffordshire (15 per cent).
An inspection failure can have devastating effects on a business, as it can leave its reputation permanently damaged overnight.
But consumers are also now far more aware of food hygiene ratings than ever before, according to experts at Food Safety Consultancy UK.
A spokesman told the Daily Mail that more people are now regularly checking ratings online, and local community Facebook groups can highlight poor scores very quickly.
'If a rating isn’t displayed, that in itself should raise questions', they added.
But even though everyone should be conscious of the cleanliness of where they are eating, the experts stressed that customers with allergies should be the most careful.
They said: 'Getting this wrong can have life-threatening consequences and has been a key factor in major prosecutions.
'Other ongoing challenges include pest control, staff training, record-keeping and maintaining standards during busy periods.'
But despite the dangers, some businesses still take shortcuts — for example not having a proper pest control contract in place, inadequate cleaning regimes or incomplete due diligence records.
Staff shortages and high turnover also mean training often falls behind, which directly impacts standards.
And although a lower inspection score does not necessarily mean food is unsafe at that moment, customers should definitely be wary of what they are walking into.
Ian Andrews, of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, said: 'Food hygiene standards depend on a range of factors, from the training of staff and good cleaning regimes, to things like the age of the building.
'However, when food safety controls fail, illness can result, which ties up really valuable NHS resources.
'Environmental Health Practitioners will investigate what went wrong and look for ways to prevent it happening again. They will also take enforcement action where required to prevent illness spreading in the community.'
But although it is now easier than ever to find the results of a hygiene inspection online, businesses are still not required by law to display them in England - with only 72 per cent choosing to do so.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, the likelihood of displaying it is linked to a higher rating, with 79 per cent of five stars showing it off compared to 38 per cent of those rated three.
Only establishments in Wales and Northern Ireland are required by law to have it displayed, but campaigners such as Which? and the FSA want to change England and Scotland's law to be the same.
The FSA was set up in the late 1990s, in the wake of the mad cow disease crisis and the 1996 e-coli outbreak in Lanarkshire which killed 20 people.
Since then the UK's framework has been become well-established and viewed as generally effective.
The system works by local authorities inspecting businesses in their area at least once every two years, before passing on the results to the FSA or Food Standards Scotland (FSS).
The Al-Rehman Supermarket in the town of Accrington, Hyndburn, received a zero rating in October 2025
But questions are being raised about its ability to meet demand, as many council environmental health departments have struggled to recruit sufficient qualified staff in recent years.
Over the past decade, the number of food standards inspectors employed by local councils has fallen by 45 per cent.
There are currently 441 supermarkets serving food that have never been inspected.
Farrelly Mitchell, the co-founder and managing director of international food consultancy firm Farrelly Mitchell, told the Daily Mail outcomes can vary depending on a local authority's resources.
He said: 'Inspection capacity remains uneven across the country, particularly in peripheral areas or areas with a high concentration of food outlets.
'This can lead to longer gaps between inspections and delays in re-rating.
'Mandatory display of food hygiene ratings in England would likely help address this by increasing transparency and encouraging operators to prioritise compliance.
'Evidence from parts of the UK where display is already mandatory (Wales/NI) suggests it drives improvements and raises overall standards.'
A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils, said they 'know their local areas best' and target their reduced resources at the riskiest businesses.
But it said: 'Ultimately it is the responsibility of food businesses to ensure the products they produce comply fully with food safety law and pose no risk,' although it stressed councils will do all they can to maintain checks 'despite severe budgetary pressures'.
Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which?, said it supports the FSA ensuring that more complex businesses operating nationally comply with food law, which enables local authorities to focus on high risk businesses in their areas.
Andrew Opie, of the British Retail Consortium, said: 'The FSA ratings clearly shows that major retailers and supermarkets show exceptionally high levels of compliance.
'In the rare instance where an individual shop drops below the expected standards, retailers move quickly to correct any issues.'
The FSA claims the inspection is a 'snapshot' of the standards of food hygiene.
Its ratings do not cover issues such as the quality of food, customer service, culinary skill, presentation or comfort, instead concentrating on how the food is stored and prepared.
The Daily Mail's data was extracted from the FSA website and is correct as of December 16, 2025.
The results of every inspection are available on the FSA website, which is updated daily as more inspections are completed.
FSA chiefs recommend businesses are inspected depending on risk, ranging from once every six months to two years.
Some extremely low-risk premises – such as newsagents, market stalls and cricket clubs – may have even longer intervals between check-ups.
Businesses that fail can book a retest once they have rectified the issues in the initial report.
An FSA spokesman said in the recent Budget, the Government asked it to develop a new national system of regulation for large food businesses so that they and consumers can benefit from 'modern, intelligence-led and effective regulation'.
This will include the ten largest national supermarket groups, which represent 95 per cent of the UK grocery market.
As part of this project, the FSA has already completed a year-long trial that looked at whether the biggest retail businesses could be regulated by scrutinising their data and systems at the national level, combined with some checks on the ground.
This system-wide oversight could allow the FSA to spot emerging safety issues more quickly, while also reducing administrative burden on the largest food retailers.
An FSA spokesman said: 'The fact that premises with poor hygiene standards are being identified and scored appropriately demonstrates that local authority food officers are doing their job in protecting consumers.
'Food hygiene standards across the UK are very high. Almost 97 per cent of establishments achieve a rating of "generally satisfactory" or better.
'Ratings are displayed online even if a business does not display its sticker.'