If you eat out a lot, or get a lot of takeaways, you want to make sure that the food you're buying is being prepared or sold at a hygienic premises.

But, surprisingly, there are many restaurants, takeaways and shops in west London that have scored zero out of five in the food hygiene ratings.

With a whopping 37 establishments with a zero rating in Ealing alone, 35 in Westminster, and more across Hillingdon, Hounslow and Hammersmith, it pays to check before you eat.

From rat-infested stores, to contaminated restaurants, to even schools, you never know where dirt and grime could be hiding.

So next time you're planning on tucking into a takeaway or dining out, you might want to have a peek at the scores on the doors first.

How do you get a zero?

A zero is scored if inspectors observe failures including an infestation of vermin, or serious amounts of rubbish and filth.

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), businesses that score zero tend to have a history of serious problems and are likely to be performing poorly in the three areas food safety officers inspect, which are:

  • How hygienically food is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored.
  • The cleanliness, layout, lighting and ventilation of the building.
  • The systems in place to make sure food is safe for consumption.

Use the searchable tool below to see which food premises have a zero rating for hygiene from the FSA:

Some of the eateries that made the zero list:

Hammersmith & Fulham

Blanche Eatery
13 Beadon Road, Hammersmith , W6 0EA
Date of last inspection: August 18, 2015

Planet Pizza
381 King Street, Hammersmith, W6 9NJ
Date of last inspection: November 17, 2015

Rimal Stores
118 Galloway Road, Shepherd's Bush , W12 0PJ
Date of last inspection: April 16, 2015

Rostomina
40 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush, W12 8DH
Date of last inspection: June 15, 2015

Hounslow

Ashiana
50-52 Bell Road, Hounslow , TW3 3PB
Date of last inspection: March 26, 2015

Bombay Bawarche
The Duke Of Cambridge, 1-3 Kingsley Road, Hounslow, TW3 1PA
Date of last inspection: October 16, 2015

Ital - India
100 Harlington Road, West Feltham , TW14 0JJ
Date of last inspection: July 15, 2015

M & A Ghadeer
84 High Street, Hounslow, TW3 1NH
Date of last inspection: March 18, 2015

Red Chili Pizza Ltd
150 Staines Road, Bedfont , TW14 9ED
Date of last inspection: October 14, 2015

Station Café
337 Bath Road, Hounslow, TW4 7HW
Date of last inspection: October 19, 2015

Hillingdon

The Yellow Chilli
The Crane, Watersplash Lane, Hayes , UB3 4QS
Date of last inspection: April 30, 2015

Usmania Halal Meat
18 Botwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 2AA
Date of last inspection: September 30, 2015

Uxbridge Supermarket
227 High Street, Uxbridge , UB8 1EU
Date of last inspection: March 26, 2015

Anjana Bhog Limited
Unit 7, Peter James Business Centre, Pump Lane, Hayes, UB3 3NT
Date of last inspection: August 12, 2015

Haji Baba Butcher
Asda Stores Ltd, Millington Road, Hayes, UB3 4AZ
Date of last inspection: October 2, 2015

Mehak Spice
882 Uxbridge Road, Hayes, UB4 0RR
Date of last inspection: November 10, 2015

Shiraz
128 Uxbridge Road, Hayes, UB4 0JH
Date of last inspection: August 5, 2015

Sun Sun
4 Gloucester Parade, Bourne Avenue, Hayes, UB3 1PR
Date of last inspection: June 19, 2015

The Crown
High Street, Harmondsworth , UB7 0AJ
Date of last inspection: January 11, 2016

The Load Of Hay P H
33 Villier Street, Uxbridge, UB8 2PU
Date of last inspection: October 1, 2015

All ratings were correct as of Monday February 22 2016.

Ratings may change following further inspections. For more information or to check up on restaurants that were previously rated zero, head to the FSA website.