IT'S SAFER to eat at Sam's Chicken in Ryde now — with a vastly improved hygiene rating.

The fast-food restaurant on Union Street was slapped with a zero rating in January, but has made improvements to get up to a four by April 7.

The rating is now showing on the Food Standard Agency website.

Inspectors found hygienic food handling and the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building was good.

The management of food safety was 'generally satisfactory'.

In January, inspectors found that workers were not washing their hands, a chopping board was mouldy, and there was the potential for dead flies in your food as an electric fly killer was above the bread toaster and chopping board.

The shocking standards included officers witnessing food handlers handling raw chicken but not washing their hands before touching anything else.

Overall, inspectors remarked there was a poor standard of hygiene with the handles of fridges throughout the kitchen covered in food debris; a microwave's inside was rusty and dirty, incapable of adequate cleaning.

In a potential risk of food poisoning, no checks were being made, or documented, to confirm the chicken was being cooked at 75°C or above.