Four more local businesses have started 2019 with a food hygiene rating of 5, the highest possible rating.
The Sandwich Shack, Accrington, Smokehouse 138, Clayton Le Moors, West End Fish and Chips, Oswaldtwistle and Woodnook Chippy, Accrington, have all recently been awarded a food hygiene rating of 5, following their first food hygiene inspection by the Council’s Food & Safety Team.
Cllr Paul Cox, Cabinet Member for Food Safety, said; “The Council’s Food and Safety Team will help anyone opening a new food business, providing free advice before the business opens. Getting it right first time is good for any new business, these businesses accessed the help and expertise of our Food Safety Team and have all achieved a 5 – the highest food rating possible, congratulations to them all.”
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) helps you choose where to eat out or shop for food by telling you how seriously the business takes their food hygiene standards.
The scheme is run by local authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and applies to restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets and other food shops.
Each business is given their hygiene rating when it is inspected by a food safety officer from the business’s local authority. The food safety officer inspecting the business checks how well the business is meeting the law by looking at:
- how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
- the condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
- how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe
At the end of the inspection, the business is given one of the six ratings from 0-5. The top rating of ‘5’ means that the business was found to have ‘very good’ hygiene standards. Any business should be able to reach this top rating.
Cllr Paul Cox, Cabinet Member for Food Safety and Deputy Leader of the Council, said; “the Food & Safety Team are also running a series of free food allergen workshops throughout the year, to help raise awareness of the importance of allergen management, with the first workshops of 2019 taking place on 29th and 31st January.”
For more information visit www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk.
