The Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland is has launched a ‘Look before you book’ campaign and is urging everyone to check the hygiene rating of a venue before booking it this festive season.
FSA’s latest figures show that the percentage of food businesses in the UK achieving the highest rating of ‘5’ has risen from 53% in 2015 to 67% in 2017. They also show that in Northern Ireland, 99% of all food businesses have received a rating of at least a ‘3’.
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is run by District Councils in Northern Ireland and applies to all food businesses including restaurant, pubs and cafes.
Each business is given their hygiene rating when it is inspected by a food safety officer from the business’s District Council. They will check how well the business is meeting the law by looking at:
- How hygienically the food is handled
- The condition the structure of the building
- And How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe
Following an inspection, the business is given one of the six ratings from ‘0-5’. The top rating of ‘5’ means that the business was found to have ‘very good’ hygiene standards.