A nursery has trained its staff to meet Food Standards Agency requirements in a bid to overturn its “zero” rating.

The director of Little Rainbow Nursery in Stratford, who wishes to remain anonymous, said all staff have been trained to serve hot food since last year’s inspection.

She said the nursery will be approaching the council for a “re-rating” before the next annual inspection is due.

“The majority of us didn’t have training because our food is provided by a catering company,” she said. “But that training’s been done and the council have said it’s absolutely fine – all of our staff are now fully qualified.”

The High Street nursery was criticised for a lack of training in food handling and safety during a visit from council officers on September 11 last year.

An inspection found staff were not recording the temperature of hot food provided by an outside caterer before serving it to children.

The inspection also found a failure to record fridge temperatures daily, a lack of towels for drying hands and a “hygiene concern” concerning a sink used for food preparation and hand-washing.

A Newham Council spokeswoman said that, though the nursery was clean, a lack of food safety training or management system resulted in a zero rating.

“The council’s food safety team inspected Little Rainbow Nursery in September and found that staff were not adequately trained in food handling or safety,” she said. “The nursery was also not recording temperatures of food before serving it to children.

“The council ordered the business to immediately train its staff and put in place a proper food safety management system.”

The nursery’s director said improvements had been verified by council officers during a visit on November 26 last year.

And a Newham Council spokeswoman said officers were satisfied food service at the nursery is safe.

“At a follow-up inspection in November it was found that the setting had implemented all the recommendations,” she said. “The council is no longer concerned about the food service provided.

“The nursery will be inspected again by the food safety team by September 2016.”

But she added the “zero” rating would remain until the next inspection, which is due in September, unless the nursery requested a re-rating in writing.

• Little Rainbow Nursery occupies the same building as charity Skills For Growth, however the charity has nothing to do with the day to day running of the nursery.