Worcester Food Hygiene: Four Shops Rated 1, None at Zero

Four food businesses in Worcester hold a food hygiene rating of 1, the second lowest on the scale. All four are shops. No business in the city holds a zero.

One of the four was rated in September: Parkside Stores on Barbourne Walk.

Those are the figures on the Food Standards Agency’s public register, read on 1 October 2026. It covers 831 premises in the Worcester City Council area, from restaurants and pubs to school kitchens, care homes and market traders.

What the register shows

Of the 831 premises listed, 600 carry a numeric rating. Most of the rest are exempt or still waiting for a first inspection.

A further 159 premises are exempt and 72 are awaiting inspection.

September’s new ratings: 13 out of 18 were 5s

Eighteen ratings dated September have been published so far. Thirteen were the top score.

The 5s went to:

• The Saracens Head, 4 The Tything
• Aladdin’s, 43 The Tything
• Teaon By Chef Jerin, 29 Broad Street
• Copper Beech Brewery And Tap Room, Britannia Road
• Guilt Trip Coffee & Donuts, Weir Lane
• HK Worcester, Navigation Road
• Worcester Wheels, Checketts Lane Industrial Estate
• SGN Castle CP Service Station, Castle Street
• Haus Of Sips, a WR5 retailer
• Caterlink at Perdiswell Primary School, Bilford Road
• Wishing Well Nursery, Droitwich Road
• Latimer Court Care Home, Darwin Avenue
• East Bank Court, Northwick Road

Three more scored 4: Brasov Superstore and The Green Store, both on Lowesmoor, and Taste Of Kuttanad on Bromyard Terrace.

The other two were the month’s low scores, below.

The newest rating published is dated 18 September 2026. Inspections since then have not reached the register yet, so late September will fill in over the coming fortnight.

The four rated 1

A rating of 1 means “major improvement necessary”. It is not a closure notice, and it is not a prosecution. It is the inspecting officer’s judgement on the day of the visit.

Each inspection scores three separate areas. All four of the city’s 1-rated businesses were marked “improvement necessary” on the third of them, management of food safety.

Parkside Stores (Select & Save), 9 to 11 Barbourne Walk, WR1 3HF, inspected 3 September 2026:

• Hygienic food handling: generally satisfactory
• Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: improvement necessary
• Management of food safety: improvement necessary

Nisa Local, 164 Bromyard Road, St John’s, WR2 5EE, inspected 17 July 2026:

• Hygienic food handling: improvement necessary
• Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: generally satisfactory
• Management of food safety: improvement necessary

Dee Way Stores, Dee Way, Warndon, WR4 9AW, inspected 10 June 2026:

• Hygienic food handling: very good
• Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: very good
• Management of food safety: improvement necessary

Haseeb Meat Hub at Dee Way Stores, Dee Way, Warndon, WR4 9BF, inspected 10 June 2026:

• Hygienic food handling: good
• Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: improvement necessary
• Management of food safety: improvement necessary

Dee Way Stores is the clearest case of how the scheme works. Its kitchen and building scored as well as any in the city. The management score alone took the overall rating to 1. The FSA defines that area as the checks in place to keep food safe, the evidence that staff understand food safety, and whether the officer is confident standards will hold.

None of the four showed a new rating pending on 1 October.

Five more at 2

Five premises hold a 2, “improvement necessary”. Four are takeaways, and two of those are a few doors apart on Lowesmoor.

Chee Wei, the one rated in September, was marked “improvement necessary” on food handling and “generally satisfactory” on the other two areas.

Takeaways and shops score worst, schools and care homes best

The gap between types of business is wider than the city total suggests.

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All 32 rated supermarkets hold a 5. So do 31 of the 33 school and college kitchens (93.9 per cent) and 45 of the 49 care homes (91.8 per cent).

Takeaways and sandwich shops are lowest, at 65 of 100 (65.0 per cent). Other shops, the category that covers convenience stores, are at 65 of 93 (69.9 per cent). Restaurants and cafes stand at 79.1 per cent, and pubs and bars at 79.2 per cent.

Shops and takeaways account for eight of the nine premises rated 1 or 2.

Most ratings are recent

A rating stays on the register until the next inspection, however long that takes. In Worcester, 38 of the 600 rated premises, or 6.3 per cent, carry a rating from 2023 or earlier. The oldest still live dates from 7 September 2009.

That is a smaller share than in many districts, but the date still matters. A 5 from years ago tells you less than a 4 from last month.

What it means for you

• Check the date as well as the number. Every rating on the FSA register shows when the inspection took place.
• A rating is about hygiene and food safety systems, not the food. It is not a review. Management of food safety carries as much weight as the state of the kitchen.
• Businesses can put their side. A business can appeal a rating within 21 days of being told it. It can also publish a “right to reply” on the register, and it can ask for a re-inspection once it has made improvements.
• A low rating is not permanent. In England, a business that asks for a re-rating will not normally be revisited within three months, and should expect a visit within six.
• You can report a concern. Food safety in the city is handled by Worcestershire Regulatory Services, the shared service that carries out inspections for Worcester City Council.

We did not approach the businesses named for comment before publication. The entries above are reported exactly as the public register records them. Any business named here that has since been re-rated, or that wants its right to reply noted, can contact us and we will publish an update.

If you are heading into town to eat, our page on parking in Worcester has the car park charges. For other council records, see planning news in Worcester.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency food hygiene rating register, read through the FSA’s open data API for the Worcester City Council area on 1 October 2026, for every rating, date and area score quoted.
• Individual business records on the register, linked above, for each inspection date and area judgement.
• Food Hygiene Rating Scheme: guidance for businesses, GOV.UK, for the 21-day appeal window, the right to reply and re-inspection timings.