Poor hygiene is an issue that can strike in any kitchen, whether it is one that belongs to an independent and small restaurant or one of the UK's largest food chains.
The Sun has published a guide to some of the issues that have been encountered at eateries such as Pizza Hut, Strada, Wimpy, Harvester, Cafe Rouge and Ask. Each of these have at least one restaurant in the UK that has been given a score of zero stars out of five by a food hygiene inspector.
As well as zero-rated establishments, up to a third of all restaurants were found to have experienced some failings. That is not to say all of the country's most famous dining venues came out of the investigation badly, as some chains - such as McDonald's - performed well.
According to the newspaper, McDonald's had 913 of its restaurants inspected and 83.6 per cent were deemed to be excellent.
Nando's is another to have shown it can record good results in hygiene inspections, with 169 of its 192 outlets achieving an excellent rating. It is also able to boast that none of its premises were given zero, one or two stars, meaning every Nando's in the country is worthy of at least three stars out of five.
Companies that have not performed as well as they would have hoped to in their most recent inspections could take various courses of action in a bid to put things right. One good idea is to invest in the best cleaning products and train staff to use them effectively, so clean and hygienic work surfaces and floors become the norm.
The Sun took a look at the UK's 30 largest restaurant chains and worked out exactly how successful each has been at impressing environmental inspectors in their most recent visits. Those that fail to do so may be left to count the cost, as they could find it harder to impress diners and may suffer a loss of reputation.
