New China on Thunder Lane was given the lowest possible rating on 14 July. It is the only zero among the 960 food businesses on Broadland's hygiene register.

A takeaway in Thorpe St Andrew has been given the lowest possible food hygiene rating. New China, at 204 Thunder Lane, was rated 0, meaning urgent improvement is necessary, after food safety officers inspected it on 14 July 2026. The rating is now published on the Food Standards Agency’s national register, which lists the business as a takeaway/sandwich shop under Broadland district council’s food and safety team.

It is the only zero in the district. Of the 960 food businesses on the register for Broadland, 791 hold the top rating of 5 and another 86 hold a 4, so more than nine in ten rated businesses sit in the top two bands. Thirteen are rated 3, eight are rated 2 and three are rated 1, with 29 awaiting inspection and 29 exempt from rating.

What a zero means

Under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, councils inspect food businesses and score three things: how hygienically food is handled, the physical condition of the premises and facilities, and how food safety is managed. The results produce a rating from 5, meaning hygiene standards are very good, down to 0, meaning urgent improvement is necessary. A 0 is rare: it is the scheme’s signal that inspectors found serious problems needing urgent attention on the day they visited.

A rating reflects what officers found at the time of inspection, and the register is explicit that businesses have a route back: an operator can appeal the rating to the council, publish a right to reply alongside their entry, and request a re-rating visit once improvements have been made. As of 11 August, New China’s register entry shows no right to reply and no new rating pending. Broads News reports what the official register records; the current position for any business is always its live register page.

The district’s other low ratings

Three Broadland businesses currently hold a rating of 1, meaning major improvement is necessary, according to the same register: Ars Corbet Store on Corbet Avenue in Sprowston (inspected 9 January 2026), Barretts Fish and Chips on Reepham Road in Hellesdon (5 November 2025) and the Lord Nelson public house on Riverside in Reedham (21 May 2026). Each of those entries, like every rating in this story, is public record on the FSA register and carries the same appeal and re-rating rights.

What it means for you

A hygiene rating is free to check and takes seconds: search any takeaway, restaurant, pub, shop or care home at ratings.food.gov.uk before you order or book. Ratings in England do not expire, but they can change whenever a business is re-inspected, so the register is always the current word rather than the sticker in the window or this article. If a business you use has a low rating, the useful questions are when it was inspected and whether a re-rating has been requested; a zero or a one from months ago with no new rating pending tells you the register has not yet recorded an improvement.