New hygiene rules could be costly for thousands of Yorkshire restaurants

Thousands of restaurants and food outlets across Yorkshire risk being snubbed by diners over new rules around food hygiene ratings.
Food outlets will have to display their Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings under new rules set to be introduced across England by 2019.Food outlets will have to display their Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings under new rules set to be introduced across England by 2019.
Food outlets will have to display their Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings under new rules set to be introduced across England by 2019.

Some 5,710 food businesses in the county - almost 14 per cent of the total - score three or less out of five in the Food Standards Agency’s hygiene ratings, and under new laws set to come into force by 2019, it will be mandatory for those ratings to be displayed.

A warning that the new rules could prove costly comes from the results of a survey carried out by insurer NFU Mutual, which found almost half of people - 44 per cent - could physically turn away from the front doors of even their favourite place to eat if it only has a rating of three - ‘generally satisfactory’ - or less.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Darren Seward, hospitality sector specialist at NFU Mutual, which today published its food hygiene ratings report, believes the imminent compulsory display of ratings will be a “game changer” for business.

“Our report shows that when it comes to food safety, customers have naturally high standards and that a ‘good’ score can no longer be seen as an aspiration but a minimum benchmark,” Mr Seward said.

There are 2,651 food businesses in West Yorkshire with a score of three and below, 1,420 in South Yorkshire, 877 in East Yorkshire and 762 in North Yorkshire.

The areas with the highest percentage of food businesses with a score of three or less are Hull (22.02), Calderdale (18.46) and Kirklees (17.2), and those with the lowest proportion are Richmondshire (3.66), Harrogate (4.66) and Craven (5.48).