Belfast’s food hygiene ratings fall short according to new report

Belfast comes in just below the national average

A new report shows that Belfast is falling short of the national average when it comes to food spots with a 5-star hygiene rating.

The rating shows how well the business is doing overall, based on standards found at the time of inspection. The ratings can be found online and on stickers which are displayed at business premises.

A food safety officer from the local council inspects a business to check that it follows food hygiene law so that the food is safe to eat.

In Belfast City, just 66.4% of food businesses hold a top 5-star hygiene rating, which falls short of the 68.8% nationally, according to a report from Paddl.

New analysis of the Food Standards Agency’s full ratings dataset breaks food hygiene scores down to council level. Nationally, 68.8% of food businesses hold a top 5-star rating, so the areas below that line stand out.

Across the UK, 31.2% of businesses don’t hold a top rating and a third have not been re-inspected in over two years.

According to the Food Standards Agency, at the inspection, the officer will check the following:

• How hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
• The physical condition of the business –including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities
• How the business manages ways of keeping food safe, looking at processes, training and systems to ensure good hygiene is maintained. The officer can then assess the level of confidence in standards being maintained in the future.

The businesses are then graded with a score between 5 and 0, with 5 meaning the hygiene standards are very good and fully comply with the law and 0 meaning urgent improvement is necessary.

To get a top rating of 5, businesses must do well in all three elements.

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