Food premises survey uncovers 'poor hygiene'

Local authority inspectors found 13% of almost 5,000 businesses were guilty of "major non-compliance" with compulsory hygiene rules. Just over 7% posed a "high risk" to public health, according to the UK Survey of Food Premises 2005.

Almost half (46%) of premises had committed minor breaches of either legally binding hygiene rules or industry codes of practice.

The survey, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency, involved 316 local authorities providing information on a total of 4,846 food premises.

These included manufacturers, food retailers and caterers such as restaurants, pubs, hotels, schools hospitals and takeaways.

Worst offenders

Caterers were the worst offenders with 11.1% of the 3,188 premises in the category posing a "significant" risk to public health and 0.3% an "imminent" risk.

Takeaways showed the poorest standards of all the caterers, with nearly 20% rated as a "high risk" to public health.

Restaurants and cafes fared slightly better, with 12.5% falling into the high risk category, followed by 9.6% of pubs and clubs and 7.9% of hotels and guest houses.

Of the 302 hospitals and nursing homes' catering facilities surveyed, 3.3% represented a "significant" public health risk and 0.3% an "imminent" risk. Only 1% of the 290 school and college catering facilities surveyed were classed as a significant risk.

The assessments were based on businesses' infrastructure, such as ventilation, drainage and waste disposal; food hygiene facilities, such as food washing and temperature control; general cleanliness and staff understanding of hygiene issues.

Enforcement action

A Food Standards Agency spokeswoman said the survey showed room for improvement - especially amongst small catering businesses.

"Food business operators are required to comply with relevant food law. It is clear from the survey that some businesses are not fulfilling their obligations," she said.

"For the small number of premises that presented a very high risk, all had follow up enforcement action to address the problems."

The UK Survey of Food Premises 2005 is the first wide-scale survey of this kind since 1990 when the Audit Commission published a comparable report.

The Food Standards Agency's board will discuss the survey's findings at a meeting in Cardiff on Thursday. It has previously been suggested that food outlets be forced to display a hygiene rating on the windows of their premises, as is the case in several other countries.