British Airways First Class Executive lounge food safety gets poor rating Food Standards Agency gave flagship lounge a rating of 2 out of 5 for 'Food Safety' It places the exclusive 'Concorde Room' in the bottom 10% of all food establishments Access usually reserved for first class passengers and some gold card holders Decline of quality of catering widely documented since the start of the year Gordon Ramsey's restaurant at the same terminal was also rated 'poor' An exclusive British Airways lounge reserved for the airline's first class passengers has been found to have questionable standards when it comes to food hygiene and safety. Despite the promise of the "Concorde Room and First Lounge" at London Heathrow Terminal 5 offering "an exclusive a la carte menu with an emphasis on the freshness and quality of ingredients', when it comes to cleanliness, passengers may have been better off eating from a burger van or kebab shop. In the latest food safety inspection, the lounge which is reserved for the airline's most valuable customers, received a score of 2 out of 5 being awarded, placing the venue in the bottom 10% of all food establishments in England. It looks nice: But would you want to eat here? The Food Standards Agency awarded the Concorde Room (pictured) at London Heathrow Terminal 5 a two out of five for food safety Flying low: BA's exclusive Concorde Room scored a miserable 2 out of 5 when it came to food safety. It places the establishment in the bottom 10% of all food places in England with pubs and even greasy burger vans performing better The findings were published online by the Food Standards Agency although there is now a Freedom of Information request to reveal the full details of the inspection. British Airways describes the lounges as providing an "exceptional experience" and "outstanding food." It advertises the Concorde Room as being the "epitome of elegance," inspired by "the finest five-star boutique hotels." A British Airways spokeswoman told MailOnline "We work with BaxterStorey to provide a high quality service to customers using our lounges, and take all feedback seriously. We continue to invest in our product and are currently renovating our kitchen facilities. However, the airline was unable to provide any clear explanation for the poor levels of hygiene revealed in its most recent food safety inspection conducted less than two months ago, at the peak of the summer holidays. Not good enough: The findings by the Food Standard Agency on the British Airways Concorde & First Class Lounge are clear for all to see BaxterStorey have released a statement concerning the poor results they received. We are very disappointed with the results of the audit by Hillingdon Council of the British Airways First Class and Concorde kitchen. We would like to acknowledge that a score of 2 is not acceptable to us and we apologise to our customers and British Airways for the management failures that contributed to this score. We had already taken immediate remedial action based on the points highlighted verbally during the inspection of July 29th. All specific management failings were rectified immediately and we continue to monitor our performance rigorously. BaxterStorey and British Airways have been working on a plan to renovate the lounge kitchens to ensure we can deliver a product to meet the high standards required by both companies and to cope with increasing demand. The statement goes onto mention an extensive renovation of the First and Concorde lounge kitchens including upgraded storage facilities and new equipment is now underway and will be completed by the end of October. Staff are also being retrained in food hygiene skills. Unhappy fliers: There has been disquiet amongst loyal ranks of BA fliers since a new catering company, BaxterStorey, took over at the start of 2013 Although there have been no reports of any passengers becoming ill from the low levels of hygiene found in the Executive Club lounges, the food safety ratings are designed to help the public make an informed decision. The food hygiene rating or inspection result given to a particular business reflects the standards of food hygiene found on the date of inspection with venues being graded on a six-point scale from zero to five. Crash landing: Gordon Ramsey's 'Plane Food' which also operates in Terminal 5 at Heathrow scored '2' as well in the most recent inspection A poor performance can be as a result of any number of factors including bad refrigeration, food cross contamination, poor hand-washing, poor food rotation and poor temperature control. Many school canteens and hospital kitchens receive a '5' grading, as do supermarket and office staff canteens. The lounges weren't the only venue scoring below par in the most recent Terminal 5 inspection. Gordon Ramsay's 'Plane Food' restaurant also scored a 2 during a survey earlier this year, along with a branch of Café Nero in the terminal. The airline can take some comfort from the fact its other lounges at Heathrow scored top marks with the British Airways' Terminal 3 lounge receiving 5 out of 5 along with another Galleries lounge based in Terminal 5, albeit both were assessed prior to BaxterStorey taking over the catering operation. Lounges operated by Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and many others also scored well during the latest round of inspections. The firm which provides food for the lounge, BaxterStorey, has been ordered to make improvements by the Food Standards Agency. It was rated as "poor" in the category of food hygiene and safety. Poor is classed as "some major non-compliance with statutory obligations - more effort required to prevent fall in standards." The firm, co-founded and chaired by Scot Alastair Storey, won a five-year contract to run catering the lounge, which includes the Concorde Room, in January. Negative feedback: Comments posted in guest books in the airline lounges are clear that all is not well amongst the ranks of BA's highest-paying passengers and most loyal customers In a separate issue, the latest findings may come as no surprise to frequent BA travellers who claim they have seen the quality of offerings provided by the exclusive lounge decline dramatically in recent months an apparent bid to cut costs. A number of blogs have even been created that chart the demise in the quality of food being offered to the airlines" most loyal members. Before and after photos on baloungefood.com show how once-appetising buffet food has been replaced by something more akin to school dinners. One blogger compared how things had changed writing: "It was a typical buffet, not amazing quality food but was adequate when you just needed something quick to eat. Now things are particularly poor. Just random trays of things in liquids, often all the meat gets fished out and you end up with trays full of sauce. Another frequent flier told MailOnline, "Frankly, this is appalling. The Concorde Lounge and First Galleries used to be something fliers aspired to access - the crème de la crème of aviation lounges. Hearing about such poor levels of hygiene makes me want to pack my own sandwich before a flight. At least I know it will be clean! Gold standard? The lounge is reserved for those frequent fliers who have access and those traveling on the most expensive business and first class BA tickets To fly, to serve: Loyal BA customers are left wondering whether they'd want the airline serving them any kind of food after the latest food safety inspection results One passenger commented: "the items on offer were all sauce based dishes which resembled gloop." Even the airlines" most dedicated frequent fliers were outraged in the decline in the quality of food being provided in what is considered to be the airlines" flagship lounge. Many have left their thoughts known in the airline's lounge guest books, usually filled with praise and compliments. Filthy! Not a decent place to sit, You should be ashamed!" wrote one passenger. "I would have been better off waiting in the monkey enclosure at London Zoo" agreed another. Please change your catering company ASAP! Food for thought: On blogs, online forums and even guest books placed with the airline's own lounge, very few positive comments can be found