Public Servant Lifestyle

Almost a third of restaurants and other catering establishments in Scotland infringed food hygiene rules in one year. New figures, from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Scotland, show that of the 20,825 catering premises inspected during a single year, 7,781 infringed food hygiene laws.

Dr George Paterson, Director of Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSA Scotland) said: "Consumers are entitled to eat out safely. Whether it's a quick bite to eat in a café or a meal at a top class hotel, everyone deserves to be able to enjoy their food without fear of falling ill.

"A food hygiene failure rate of one-third for restaurants and other catering establishments is simply unacceptable. Many premises do have a high standards but those standards should apply equally across the country.

The Catering Industry

"That is why we will be working closely with the catering industry as part of our campaign to drive up hygiene standards.

"We will also continue to work closely with local authorities to ensure that they use their extensive powers to inspect premises and take the necessary action against those which are not up to scratch. We have just started a rolling programme of local authority audits to ensure standards are enforced consistently across Scotland.

"Consumers have an important role to play too. Only three-quarters of people in Scotland who experienced food poisoning last year actually reported it. We want to see far more people reporting illness or poor standards to their local environmental health department."

Seven out of 10 of the Scottish population 'regularly', or 'occasionally', eats out.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a central Government agency established to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food safety and standards across the UK. The FSA incorporates the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) - itself an Executive Agency of the FSA since 1995 - which is responsible for the protection of public health relating to meat products, as well as animal health and welfare issues. The FSA Scotland, was launched in April 2000.

More information available in Dining Out, To Your Door