Within five months, a popular ASDA store in south east London has transformed from being among the most dirtiest stores in England to ranking as one of the cleanest.

The ASDA supermarket, located on 160 Broadway, DA67BN, was rated an overall score of 2/5 on September 13, 2023.

This means that the food hygiene at ASDA in Bexleyheath needs “necessary improvement”.

However, a spokesperson for ASDA has since confirmed that this particular store was “re-assessed” on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, and has been awarded a 5/5 the highest possible score.

The spokesperson said: “We take the hygiene of our stores extremely seriously and can reassure customers at our Bexleyheath store that all of the issues identified in this inspection in September last year, have since been rectified.

“I can confirm that the store has today received a new rating of 5.”

The Food Hygiene Rating website still displays this ASDA store with a score of two-out-of-five – the latest scores are yet to be updated.

Food Standards Agency (FSA) inspects businesses across the country, assessing hygiene and safety, structural compliance, and confidence in management.

Across the UK, every food outlet including convenience stores, restaurants, hospitals, and care homes are given a hygiene rating.

What each hygiene rating means:

0 - Urgent improvement necessary

1 - Major improvement necessary

2 - Some improvement necessary

3 - Hygiene standards generally satisfactory

4 - Hygiene standards good

5 - Hygiene standards very good

Food Standards Agency gave the following scores to ASDA Bexleyheath on September 13, 2023:

Hygienic food handing: Includes preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage

Improvement necessary

Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: Includes having an appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene.

Improvement necessary

Management of food safety: Checks in place to ensure food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confident that standards will be maintained in future.

Generally satisfactory