900 warnings on food hygiene handed out to Shropshire businesses

The Food Standards Agency hygiene intervention inspections in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin saw at total of 939 written warnings sent out over the 12 months to April. In Powys the figure was 567.

The businesses inspected are mostly restaurants, but include any establishment which handles unpacked food, including farms, manufacturers and catering companies.

It comes as an industry report has revealed half of food businesses in England do not display a hygiene rating - leading local councils to demand a change in the law to force them to do so.

Inspectors assessed 1,343 businesses in the Telford & Wrekin Council area and handed out 372 written warnings.

In Shropshire 3,436 businesses were inspected and 567 warnings were sent. Powys saw 2,696 businesses inspected with 173 warnings given out.

Any breach of food hygiene regulations can lead to a written warning. Breaches include problems with cleanliness, training of staff, record keeping, washing facilities and separation of cooked and raw foods.

Officials consider the seriousness of the case, as well as the co-operation of the business, before deciding on what action to take.

As well as the written warnings, in Telford there were 12 hygiene improvement notices, three cautions and one hygiene prohibition notice.

High risk scores were given to nine businesses, meaning they need to be inspected again within six months.

In Shropshire there were five hygiene improvement notices, two voluntary closures and one food seizure.

High risk scores were given to four businesses.

Prosecutions

Powys saw 15 hygiene improvement notices given out, 14 food seizures, eight voluntary closures, seven detention notices and five cautions. There were also five successful prosecutions in court. High risk scores were given to 16 businesses.

The rating is different from the 0 to 5 score that restaurants and takeaways display in their windows, as it is an indicator of when officials need to assess the business again.

A business which gets a high risk rating is "highly likely" to have breached food hygiene regulations, according to the FSA.

However it could also be because of its trade, such as large scale manufacturers with lots of customers or businesses that carry out specialist procedures.

In total there were more than 150,000 written warnings handed out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2017-18, and 267 successful prosecutions. Scotland collects its data separately.

Nina Purcell, director of regulatory delivery at the FSA, said: "It’s encouraging that local authorities have made improvements in the percentage of interventions achieved and are continuing to target their activities at food businesses where food safety risks are the highest or where food fraud is more likely."

An FSA spokeswoman encouraged people who see bad food hygiene to report it to the council.

She said: "You can report poor hygiene practices in a restaurant, store or other food outlet to the business's local authority at food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem/report-poor-hygiene-practices."