Aldi UK and Ireland store

Source: Aldi

Only 0.1% of Aldi stores earned fewer than four stars, according to the research

Aldi has been ranked the most hygienic of 10 major grocers in a study of Food Standards Agency ratings given to stores.

The research by Property Inspect, which makes software for monitoring an estate’s cleanliness, found 99.7% of Aldi stores had achieved the maximum five stars in their latest FSA inspection.

Waitrose was second at 98.2% and M&S third at 96.7%. Co-op came bottom, with 88.6% of its stores having earned five stars.

However, the study also concluded hygiene levels across the 10 supermarkets were high, with only 0.9% of all their stores combined earning three stars or fewer.

In terms of consistency, Waitrose came top, as it was the only retailer none of whose stores earned fewer than four stars. 

“While big-name brands like these supermarket chains have generally high results across the majority of their stores, more can be done,” said Property Inspect commercial director Warrick Swift.

“Given that a rating of three or below could lose a store as much as a third of its business, this is an issue where shoppers will vote with their feet.”

The research did not include stores in Scotland, which is not covered by the FSA, nor branches awaiting a result or inspection.

SupermarketStores included in studyNumber with five-star FSA ratingNumber with FSA rating of three or belowPercentage with five-star ratingPercentage with three stars or fewer

Aldi

744

742

1

99.73%

0.13%

Waitrose

341

335

0

98.24%

0.00%

Marks & Spencer

457

442

2

96.72%

0.44%

Sainsbury’s

1225

1184

7

96.65%

0.57%

Iceland

726

692

5

95.32%

0.69%

Lidl

703

655

2

93.17%

0.28%

Tesco

2228

2061

9

92.50%

0.40%

Morrisons

466

429

4

92.06%

0.86%

Asda

530

475

11

89.62%

2.08%

Co-op

2369

2100

45

88.64%

1.90%

Total

9789

9115

86

93.11%

0.88%

 Source: Property Inspect