Wigan named in bottom three in North West for food hygiene, new report shows

Online training provider High Speed Training analysed Food Standards Agency (FSA) data for more than 230,000 food businesses across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

It found that in the North West, the average food hygiene rating across all food establishments was 4.41 from more than 27,000 premises, which places the region ninth in the national rankings.

Wigan scored an average of 4.15 across 446 food-serving premises – ranking it as the third worst area in the North West.

However, the borough was considered to be a big improver alongside Stockport, with both increasing their ratings by 0.29 from 2019, placing Stockport eighth and Wigan 17th in the region.

Following regular inspections, ratings are devised based on the standard of food handling, the physical condition of the premises and its facilities and food safety management practices.

These ratings are then made available on the FSA website and are usually visible from outside the premises.

In Wales and Northern Ireland, it is compulsory for businesses to display their food hygiene rating, but in England it is just considered best practice.

The top spot in the region went to Southport, with an average score of 4.91 from more than 400 premises, placing it top in the national rankings for towns and cities.

The lowest average rating in the North West went to Bolton, with an score of 3.97, ranking it bottom of towns and cities nationally.

High Speed Training’s report found more than one in four takeaways (28 per cent) across the region scored three or below for their food hygiene.

Eilidh Paton, owner of Alba Food Safety Consultancy, said: "Inspections and ratings are extremely important, they ensure businesses are compliant and designed to help businesses provide safer food.

“It also gives consumers the assurance that businesses are safe to eat in as they are regularly inspected by competent officers.

“Takeaways, on average, tend to have a lower rating for a large number of reasons, but mainly it is down to a much larger number of orders per day.

"It’s fast food, so the customer expects to get it quickly, leaving less time for staff to focus on cleaning and paperwork.”

Richard Anderson, head of learning development at High Speed Training, added: “One of the biggest responsibilities as a food establishment is ensuring that food safety and hygiene practices are thorough and up-to-date.

"It’s so important to look at the rating accredited by the FHRS as it’s a direct reflection of how that establishment operates and the importance it places on its livelihood.

“As our analysis shows, ratings are fairly high with every single region in the UK improving their average food hygiene score from 2019.

"For establishments with a low hygiene rating, it can be extremely off-putting for customers and has a significant impact on your reputation and profitability as a business.

“There’s more establishments can do to improve their hygiene rating, ensuring all staff have up-to-date training and are aware of their specific responsibilities and implementing good practices every day to stay on top of hygiene standards.

“We would always recommend checking hygiene ratings before eating at an establishment.”

To view the report in full, and to see how your area compares to others, click here