BBC Stings Uber Eats With Fake Burger Restaurant Investigation

Uber Eats is revising its restaurant delivery food hygiene policies after a BBC investigation set up a fake burger restaurant that traded out of a London front garden.

The ‘restaurant,’ Best Burger Corporation, was able to sign up despite not having a council hygiene rating, pledging merely that “it would have one soon.” A few days after completing the online application process, the BBC received an official Uber Eats starter pack which enabled it to start trading. The BBC said that “there had been no identity checks.”

Best Burger Corporation then delivered a burger cooked on a domestic barbecue in a front garden directly to a driver, before having it delivered to Mark McGlinn, an expert on food safety systems implementation for restaurants and food delivery.

McGlinn described the ease with which he was able to order from an unchecked trader was “really shocking.” He added that he was “astonished by what [he] saw but also very very alarmed.” On opening the “cold” burger, he described what he saw as “desperate times ... If very very large food delivery platforms can be operating in this way.”

The Chair of the Food Standards Agency, Heather Hancock, said she “was nearly speechless with horror.”

Uber said it was deeply concerned by the breach its food safety policy and had taken “immediate action” to update its sign-up requirements.

“It is unacceptable that a restaurant that did not meet our requirements was able to use the platform. We are working hard to ensure this does not happen again.” It does indeed seem unlikely that anyone will set up a restaurant in their front garden on a single grill again.