Wetherspoon and Pret have the cleanest branches

Wetherspoon and Pret A Manger are leading the high street on food hygiene, according to new figures released by the Food Standards Agency.

The FSA found that of the largest 20 food chains, Wetherspoons and Pret a Manger had the highest proportion of 5 hygiene ratings (93.1%).

Catriona Stewart, FSA lead for the Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme, said: “Our latest data shows how seriously high street chains take food hygiene. We want to build on the success of the scheme over its first five years and reduce consumer risk even further by encouraging people to ‘look before they book.”

Stewart insists that telling people about hygiene standards in food outlets in a way that is clear and easy to understand has made a real difference. “We’ve seen standards improve and more and more businesses are able to show their customers that they take food hygiene seriously,” she said.

Wetherspoon founder and chair, Tim Martin, commented: “Food hygiene is of paramount importance to our customers and rightly so. Our pub management and staff work hard to ensure that our pubs offer customers the highest levels of food hygiene at all times. We are extremely pleased that our pubs offer the best standards of food hygiene in the FSA ratings over the past five years and we will strive to maintain and improve our ratings in the coming months and years.”

The ratings are determined by local authority food safety officers and run from 0-5, with a 5 rating meaning very good food hygiene standards.

FHRS data for England, largest high street chains

Based on businesses with a published food hygiene rating on 4 November 2015.