Don’t let food poisoning ruin your festive celebrations

If there’s one thing guaranteed to ruin your Christmas meal out with friends, family or colleagues, it’s a nasty bout of food poisoning.

But if you’re eating out, how do you know if the restaurant owner takes food hygiene seriously?

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme rates eateries and other places that sell food on their hygiene standards, based on inspections carried out by Bury Council food safety officers. What’s more, these ratings are available for everyone to see.

This national scheme, developed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities, rates food outlets on a scale ranging from zero (which means ‘urgent improvement necessary’) to a top rating of five (‘very good’). Bury has the lowest number of poorly rated premises in Greater Manchester.

You can check the rating online at www.food.gov.uk/ratings, via a free phone app, or look for the distinctive green and black rating sticker that businesses are encouraged to display.

Councillor Gill Campbell, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and regeneration, said: “When dining out, you’ll choose to go to a place where you like the food and you know you’ll have a good time. It makes sense to look before you book and check out the food hygiene rating as well.”

Catriona Stewart, head of the food hygiene ratings team at the FSA, added: “No one wants to gamble with their health when eating out, particularly when celebrating a special festive meal. Local authorities, including Bury Council, have worked with the FSA to successfully roll out the scheme which helps people choose where to eat. Our app makes it even easier for people to check hygiene ratings before deciding which place to visit.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 29 November 2012.

Notes to editors:

• The aim of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is to reduce the one million cases of food poisoning suffered by people in theUKeach year.
  • Download the app: the free FSA app can be downloaded from Google Play (food.gov.uk/app-android) or iTunes (food.gov.uk/app-itunes).
  • On Twitter, the hashtag is #FHRS – it’s a good idea for tweets to mention Bury Council’s Twitter address, e.g. @burycouncil
  • The Facebook page is facebook.com/FoodHygieneRatingScheme