The festive season is fast approaching and with companies looking to book their Christmas meals and parties a valid question is being asked, do hygiene ratings matter to you?
The Food Standards Agency is responsible for inspecting all premises involved in food preparation and awarding a ‘food hygiene rating’ which reflects the standard of food hygiene and cleanliness.
The ratings are based on a star system with the below rankings:
1 – Major improvement necessary, 2 –Improvement necessary, 3 -Generally satisfactory,
4 –Good, 5 – Very good.
A recent FSA poll found that 41% of people questioned never check the ratings before choosing a venue, yet once the hygiene rating system was explained to those polled 83% said they would not eat at a restaurant with a rating lower than 3 stars.
Encouragingly 91% of restaurants are rated 3 stars and above but there are a number of establishments that do have 1 and 2 star ratings so the FSA recommends checking a restaurant’s hygiene rating on their website before you book.
