The South West is the top-scoring region in the UK when it comes to food hygiene, followed by Northern Ireland and the East Midlands.
This is according to online training provider High Speed Training, which investigated the state of the UK’s food hygiene scene by analysing Food Standards Agency (FSA) data for over 215,000 food businesses across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The FSA food hygiene ranking scheme helps consumers choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving clear information about businesses’ hygiene standards.
The scheme gives businesses a rating from 5 to 0, where 5 means hygiene standards are very good; 4 indicates hygiene standards are good; 3 shows hygiene standards are generally satisfactory, 2 indicates some improvement is necessary; 1 means major improvement is necessary and 0 requires urgent improvement
High Speed Training found that across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the average food hygiene rating across surveyed businesses was 4.54, with the top-scoring region being the South West, with an average rating of 4.66 from over 21,000 premises, with Northern Ireland scoring 4.64 and the East Midlands 4.62.
London had the lowest average rating in the study, with a score of 4.36, though the area had by far the most establishments, with almost 36,000 premises contributing to the rating.
North West seaside town Southport topped the individual rankings, achieving 4.91 out of 5, closely followed by Bangor, Ipswich and Lincoln, (all 4.89) and Stockton-On-Tees (4.86).
The bottom three included Walsall (4.13), Birmingham (4.08) and Wigan (3.92), with the latter’s rating dropping by a UK wide high of 0.29.
However, if London boroughs were counted as separate towns, they would claim three of the four bottom spots in the country – Barking & Dagenham: 3.95, Ealing: 3.92, Waltham Forest: 3.74.
The analysis also found that one in five takeaways (20%) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland scored a 3 or below for their food hygiene rating. In big cities, this number rose significantly. In Birmingham (38%), Manchester (33%), and Liverpool (31%), the numbers were noticeably higher. All in all, 480 premises scored a 0, and 3,426 scored just a 1 for their rating.
Dr Richard Anderson, head of learning and development at High Speed Training said: “Food safety and robust hygiene practices should be of paramount importance to food businesses. Recently, we have seen many high profile cases of food poisoning and illnesses caused by food-borne bacteria. This is why food hygiene ratings are so important – they are a direct reflection of how safely and hygienically that establishment operates and are of critical importance to consumers.”
A similar report run in 2023 by High Speed Training calculated the score at 4.53, showing that food hygiene standards have slightly improved in recent years, with 87% of businesses scoring a 4 or 5, with 70% scooping top marks. This year London also increased its rating from 2023, by 0.02.
