Just Eat to ban restaurants with bad food hygiene ratings
Food delivery app Just Eat is set to ban takeaways with bad food hygiene ratings from its platform, it announced on Wednesday.
Under a new £1m ($1.3m) programme, Just Eat will work with outlets already on its platform with an official Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene rating below three – or “generally satisfactory” – to bring their scores up by 1 May.
However, any restaurant that doesn’t improve its score by the deadline will be removed from the app, it said. In addition to this, all new applicants will have to meet a minimum hygiene score of three, or be registered and awaiting inspection from a local authority.
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According to Just Eat, its funding will provide a “bespoke improvement plan” for restaurants with a rating of two or lower, delivered by leading global food safety consultants the National Sanitation Foundation.
The package of support will include a one-to-one visit from an expert food safety practitioner, provision of a detailed action plan on how to make any required improvements, access to resources, and guidance on how to request a re-inspection to gain a new rating.
Zero-rated restaurants will also be offered additional follow-up support, Just Eat said.
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Graham Corfield, managing director of Just Eat UK, said: “At Just Eat, we’re focused on helping the UK’s vibrant takeaway sector grow and thrive. We know that running a small, independent business is not without its challenges, and food hygiene and safety is a vital area that restaurants need to get right.
“This is why we have an ever-evolving programme of work dedicated to raising food safety standards across the entire takeaway sector. The vast majority of the UK’s takeaway restaurants have good food hygiene standards already, but today’s investment means those that need extra help can now access bespoke support for free.
“Helping our customers access brilliant food and supporting restaurants to prosper and grow is what Just Eat is here to do. This investment will help ensure the takeaway sector continues to improve and meet customers’ high expectations.”
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Just Eat already offers food hygiene and safety training to every restaurant that signs up to its platform free of charge.
The latest commitment from Just Eat follows its announcement in December 2018 of plans to include the official FSA food hygiene rating of each of its UK restaurant partners directly on its platform, both in-app and online.
