FOOD outlets in Croydon were issued with 545 written warnings about hygiene in a single year, newly published figures show.
The data, provided by local authorities to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), shows enforcement action taken by environmental health officers across London in 2012/13.
As well as hundreds of warning letters, inspectors in Croydon issued 57 improvement notices and completed two prosecutions. Four establishments closed voluntary due to concerns about food hygiene.
Croydon had 2,681 food-related businesses in 2012/13, the sixth largest number in London.
The 545 food hygiene warning letters issued in Croydon was below the London average and other boroughs, including Westminster (2,001), Southwark (1,295) and Hackney (2,001).
In total local authorities in London sent out 15,947 written warnings, 1,108 improvement notices and 144 emergency prohibition orders.
The also seized or detained food on 59 occasions and 192 businesses voluntarily closed as a result of hygiene concerns.
As well as hygiene data the figures detail action taken on food standards.
Croydon issued 91 written warnings compared to 962 in Tower Hamlets and 581 in Lambeth. The total in London in 2012/13 was 3,806.
Last month the Advertiser published a special report into food hygiene in Croydon. It revealed that 27 food outlets in Croydon had been rated zero out of five for hygiene in 2013.
They were among a third of all outlets that fell below expected standards of hygiene last year.
That means a third of all outlets inspected in 2013 were rated zero, one or two out of give which constitutes a fail under FSA guidelines.
The Advertiser produced an interactive map showing food rating scores between 2007 and 2013.
Food hygiene ratings – known as 'scores on doors' – cover restaurants, pubs, cafés, takeaways and hotels, as well as supermarkets and other food shops.
The scheme is run by local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in partnership with the FSA.
Businesses are assessed in three areas – hygiene and safety, structural compliance and confidence in management – and are then rated on a scale of zero to five.
In Croydon in 2013, 27 businesses scored zero, 60 were rated one and a further 18 were given a rating of two out of five. Two hundred scored three or above.
