A TOTAL of 14 food outlets inspected in Thurrock have been given a food hygiene rating of zero stars out of five, while a further 41 outlets have been awarded just one star out of five.

The ratings, published on www.scoresonthedoors.co.uk, do not show the ratings for all eateries in the borough, only those which have been inspected by Thurrock Council since January 2006.

The Council’s own website explains that premises with excellent hygiene standards are given five stars, premises with good standards will get three stars, whilst premises with very poor hygiene standards will get no stars.

Premises which are given a two star rating for hygiene are deemed to be ‘broadly compliant’ with legal requirements which means, that there are no major contraventions.

Factors which could result in a business receiving poor hygiene scores can include poor food handling practices such as the risk of cross-contamination, the suggestion of limited hand washing, poor temperature control, and poor storage of food.

After an inspection Environmental Health and Food Safety Officers make decisions, based on the appropriate legislation and the Food Law Code of Practice, as to whether guidance, a revisit or re-inspection, formal letter, Notice, closure, or prosecution is the best solution for the problems found in a restaurant.

The council say that the higher the risk rating a business is given determines how frequently it is inspected.

Thurrock Council Spokesperson Andy Lever said: “Premises can have low star ratings for a multitude of reasons.

“To reduce to one star or less can mean one or more major contraventions of legal requirements, a combination of a number of smaller contraventions or perhaps the premise may be running well now, but has had a previously poor history and the inspector will need to be sure that the improvement is being maintained before increasing the confidence score.

“The major contravention which is the cause of many businesses receiving only one star is that in January 2006, it became a legal requirement for all food business operators to have a documented food safety management system.

“Some businesses may, therefore, be operating safely, but are not fulfilling their legal requirement to have this documented system.

“In this case, we will send them a formal letter and may consider more formal legal action, if there is no confidence that the business is intending to comply, but it would not be appropriate to close the business for this reason.

“Businesses with no stars will have at least one more major contravention than this or a combination of smaller contraventions.

“Closing a premises is always taken very seriously and can only happen in the most serious cases and can only legally be carried out where there is very clear and evident ‘imminent risk to health’.

“An uncontrolled infestation of rodents or cockroaches could be such an example.

“The action taken by Environmental Health Officers will depend on the level of risk and whether food business operators are working with us to improve.”

Check out how takeaways and restaurants in your area have scored on www.scoresonthedoors.co.uk.

What are your experiences of dining in Thurrock? Post your comments below.