KFC responds after Ryhope restaurant gets ZERO food hygiene rating

Despite the fast food giant opening the restaurant on Salterfen Park in Sunderland in October 2022, it was handed the lowest rating from food health inspectors in the latest round of inspections published on their website.

After welcoming the new restaurant into the area, which boasted 30 new jobs for the North East, customers have been expressing their shock at KFC receiving such a low mark.

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In a report published recently, inspectors are said to have told staff at the restaurant that urgent improvements to some areas need to be made.

In the inspection, which took place on December 1, health inspectors highlighted 'urgent improvement necessary' in the 'management of food safety' section, which covers 'system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future'.

Meanwhile, the Sunderland KFC branch also fell short in the 'cleanliness and condition of facilities and building' section - getting feedback of 'major improvement necessary'.

Despite the restaurant getting a 'good' rating in the hygienic food handling section, it did not prevent it from getting the zero food hygiene rating.  

Following the publishing of the zero food hygiene rating, KFC has now responded, clarifying that a quick reinspection later in December resulted in a five-star hygiene rating.

A KFC Spokesperson said: “We have strict processes in place to ensure the quality and hygiene standards of all our restaurants and KFC Ryhope is no different.

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"Unfortunately, due to some technical issues, we didn’t receive the EHO star rating we would have wanted.

"But fear not people of Ryhope, a recent revisit last week resulted in a new 5-star rating. 

"The team are in touch with the EHO to get the right score on the website very soon but already have the sticker in the restaurant for our guests to see.”