Food Hygiene Rating helps customers make decisions on where to buy and eat food.
Food Safety Week kicks off in Torbay.
This week, 4th – 10th June 2018, marks National Food Safety week.
To celebrate National Food Safety week Torbay Council has partnered with the Food Standards Agency to shine a light on food safety.
This also includes how they are working together to #ProtectingYourPlate.
£203bn spent on food
As a nation, and good to hear it’s not just me, we love our food.
In fact we spent over £203bn on food and drink last year alone.
However we often taken the safety of our food for granted.
Here in Torbay we have a dedicated team of Environmental Health Offices whose job it is to inspect local food businesses to ensure hygiene standards are up to standard.
Angela Towers, Head of the Food Hygiene Rating Team at the Food Standards Agency said:
Working in partnership with Torbay Council and their expert Environmental Health Officers we are dedicated to ensuring that people can trust that the food they buy and eat is safe and honest. Our Food Hygiene Rating Scheme empowers the public to make informed decisions about where to buy and eat food, it’s also proved hugely effective in driving up standards in food businesses across the country.
1,025 food businesses inspected
So far the Environmental Health Offices have inspected 1,025 busineses across Torbay and awarded hygiene ratings of 3 (generally satisfactory) or above.
The ratings are part of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
The scheme covers all businesses supplying or serving food to consumers including restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, food vans or stalls, canteens, hotels, supermarkets, schools, hospitals and care homes.
Food hygiene rating empowers customers
Thanks to the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme people are able to choose where they shop and also where they eat.
The rating gives a clear indication about the businesses hygiene standards.
In total there are 6 ratings raging from 0 (urgent improvement required) at the bottom and 5 (very good) at the top.
Businesses are given green and black stickers to display the ratings at their premises and all ratings are shown online.
Words from the council
Cllr Vic Ellery from Torbay Council said:
We have a dedicated team that works hard to ensure that food which is served to our residents in Torbay is safe and they can dine out with peace of mind. Research shows that food hygiene when eating out is the UK’s number one food safety concern so it’s great to see that the majority of our local food businesses hold a rating of 3 or above.
