Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats work with hundreds of unhygienic fast-food restaurants
Several of the leading online food order services have been delivering meals from hundreds of takeaways that have poor hygiene standards, a new report says.
Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats are working with many restaurants that only have a one-star rating from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), according to The Times.
A BBC report using statistics from an FSA database revealed in May Just Eat hosted 259 takeaways with a single star rating and three with a score of zero.
Deliveroo had worked with 251 one-star restaurants and 18 zero-star businesses across the country.
The new report showed Uber Eats was in partnership with 30 fast-food outlets that had a rating of one or zero.
This was despite Uber Eats and Deliveroo claiming they did not work with any business that dropped below two stars.
Just Eat, which has partnered with 4,000 restaurants with a rating of two or lower, told the Times it felt it was “best to support restaurants awarded FSA ratings of one and two by offering support, rather than to remove an important revenue stream for them.”
Restaurants with zero ratings were taken off its list in May.
A spokesperson for Deliveroo said it was going to start displaying hygiene ratings, saying: “This will help further inform consumers and will sit alongside Deliveroo’s already robust policy to enforce high food hygiene standards.
“If a restaurant we work with has slipped below the required rating, they will be removed from the platform unless they can demonstrate evidence that they have improved their hygiene standards.”
Uber Eats plans to do the same, with an official adding: "Uber Eats takes food hygiene very seriously. Any restaurant found to have a food hygiene rating lower than two will be immediately removed from the Uber Eat’s app.
"We work closely with the FSA to make sure we have the best possible processes in place."
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A Just Eat spokesman, which already displays hygiene ratings, said: "We are at the forefront of raising food hygiene standards across the UK takeaway sector and want all of the restaurants we work with to achieve the highest possible food hygiene rating.
“We do not allow zero-rated restaurants to trade on Just Eat, and are also investing more than £1million in a bespoke improvement programme for restaurants with a food hygiene rating of below 3.
"However, transparency is key here, which is why earlier this year, we became the first online food delivery company to publish the official Food Hygiene Rating of every restaurant listed directly on our app and website, so that customers can make informed decisions about their takeaway choices."
FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
5 – hygiene standards are very good
4 – hygiene standards are good
3 – hygiene standards are generally satisfactory
2 – some improvement is necessary
1 – major improvement is necessary
0 – urgent improvement is required
