Croydon published 48 new food hygiene ratings in August. 35 were top marks, three scored one out of five, and only two places in the borough now hold a zero.

Croydon Council published 48 new food hygiene ratings during August, and 35 of them were the top score of 5.

Three premises were rated 1 out of 5, meaning major improvement is necessary. One scored 3. Nine scored 4. Not a single Croydon business was rated 0 during the month.

Every figure here is taken from the Food Standards Agency’s own register, read on 31 August 2026 (FSA food hygiene ratings).

The three rated 1 out of 5

A rating of 1 means the inspector found that major improvement is necessary. All three were inspected in the first week of the month:

  • Holiday Inn Express London Croydon Hotel, 1 Priddy’s Yard, CR0 1TS, inspected 7 August (register entry)
  • Palm Cuisine, 4 Station Approach, Purley Oaks Road, South Croydon, CR2 0QD, a takeaway, inspected 7 August (register entry)
  • Solidrock Academy CIC, at the Sir Philip Game Recreation Centre, 38 Morland Avenue, CR0 6EA, a caring premises, inspected 4 August (register entry)

The rating is not one number but three, and this is the part most coverage leaves out. Inspectors score hygienic food handling, the condition of the structure, and confidence in management. A lower score is better. The overall rating comes from the worst of the three as much as the average.

All three of these premises scored 20 for confidence in management, which is the weakest band short of failure. Their other scores differ:

  • Holiday Inn Express: hygiene 10, structure 15
  • Palm Cuisine: hygiene 15, structure 10
  • Solidrock Academy: hygiene 10, structure 10

In other words, none of the three was marked down mainly for dirt. In each case the biggest single problem the inspector recorded was the management of food safety: the records, the systems and the confidence that standards will hold between visits.

The one premises rated 3, “generally satisfactory”, was OurCamps at Selsdon Primary and Nursery School, Addington Road, CR2 8LQ, inspected on 4 August (register entry).

None of these businesses has published a right to reply on the register. Any of them may still appeal, reply or ask for a re-inspection, and the rules for doing so are set out further down this page.

The rest of August was good news

The 35 top scores are the story the register does not shout about. They include:

  • four units at Boxpark Croydon on George Street: Crumble Mania Express, Greekos Gyros, Oooze and The Taco House
  • three McDonald’s restaurants, on Church Street, George Street and Swan Close
  • Five Guys and Wingstop, both on Hesterman Way at Valley Retail Park
  • Starbucks on George Street
  • The Sir Julian Huxley on Addington Road, South Croydon
  • Amelias Wild Spice Kitchen on Purley Road, Purley
  • Planta Health Store on Westow Street, Upper Norwood
  • several care homes, nurseries and school holiday clubs, including Amberley Lodge in Purley and Langley Oaks Resource Centre in South Croydon

How Croydon compares with its neighbours

Across the whole borough, 2,830 food businesses currently hold a numeric rating. Another 302 are registered but awaiting their first inspection, and 18 are exempt from the scheme.

Of those 2,830, 1,817 hold a 5, which is 64.2%. A further 702 hold a 4. So 89.0% of rated Croydon food businesses are at 4 or better.

That is a decent number on its own, and a middling one next to the boroughs around it:

Borough Rated premises Rated 5 Share at 5 Rated 0 or 1
Merton 1,278 1,039 81.3% 15
Bromley 2,171 1,683 77.5% 18
Sutton 1,171 875 74.7% 20
Croydon 2,830 1,817 64.2% 50
Lambeth 2,415 1,486 61.5% 78

All five figures come from the same FSA register, read on the same day.

Bar chart comparing the share of food businesses rated 5 for hygiene in five south London boroughs: Merton 81.3 per cent, Bromley 77.5 per cent, Sutton 74.7 per cent, Croydon 64.2 per cent and Lambeth 61.5 per cent
Graphic by Croydon Today, from the Food Standards Agency register, read 31 August 2026.

The gap is worth reading carefully. Croydon has more rated food businesses than any of the four, so a lower share of fives is not surprising in a borough with this much high street. But it is the count at the bottom that stands out. Croydon has 48 businesses holding a 1 and two holding a 0. Bromley, with 2,171 rated premises, has 18 between the two lowest scores.

Only two Croydon premises currently hold a zero, the lowest possible rating:

  • Rio Lounge, 162 to 164 Cherry Orchard Road, CR0 6BB, rated on 4 July 2026 (register entry)
  • Phoenix City Chinese Takeaway, 222 Mitcham Road, CR0 3JJ, rated on 24 June 2026 (register entry)

A zero means urgent improvement is necessary. It does not mean a business has been closed, and neither of these has published a right to reply.

What it means for you

Check before you order, not after. Every rating is free to look up by name or postcode on the FSA register, and it gives you the inspection date as well as the score. A 5 from four years ago and a 5 from last month are not the same information.

Read the three scores, not just the number. The register shows hygiene, structure and confidence in management separately for most entries. A place marked down purely on structure has a different problem from one marked down on management.

A rating is a snapshot of one day. It records what the inspector found at that visit. Businesses improve, and they slip.

If a business does not display a rating, that is not an offence in England. Displaying the sticker is voluntary here, unlike in Wales and Northern Ireland. You can still look the premises up.

Report a problem to the council, not to us. Croydon’s food and safety team takes complaints at food.safety@croydon.gov.uk or on 020 8760 5436 (Croydon Council: food hygiene rating scheme).

What a business can do about a bad rating

This is the part that matters if you run one of the premises named above, and it is not free.

A business that did not get a 5 can ask for a re-visit once the improvements have been made. In Croydon the form goes to food.safety@croydon.gov.uk with photographs and receipts as evidence, and the council charges £300, payable in full and upfront by card before the inspection happens. The council says it works to the FHRS Brand Standard and has three months to complete a rescore visit, counted from the date the payment clears. It also warns plainly that a re-visit can push a rating down as well as up (Croydon Council).

Two other routes cost nothing:

  • Appeal. A business that thinks the rating does not reflect the standards on the day of the inspection can appeal, in writing, to the council. The FSA advises speaking to the inspecting officer first to understand why the rating was given (FSA: safeguards for businesses).
  • Right to reply. A business can explain what has changed since the inspection, or set out unusual circumstances on the day, and the FSA publishes that reply on the register next to the rating for everyone to read.

A business can also ask the council to publish a rating early, before the appeal period ends, which is the route used by a business confident it did well.

Where these numbers come from

The Food Standards Agency runs the scheme, but the inspections are Croydon Council’s. Officers work to a risk-based programme, so a high-risk premises is seen more often than a low-risk one, and wholesalers and manufacturers are outside the scheme entirely (Croydon Council: food hygiene inspections).

That is why 302 Croydon premises show as awaiting inspection. Most are new registrations waiting for a first visit, not businesses that have been skipped.

Sources

Ratings change with every inspection. Check the FSA register for the current position before relying on anything here. Our other Croydon guides cover bin collection days, council tax bands, parking and planning applications.