Ministers have been urged to make failing takeaways in England and Scotland publicly display their food hygiene scores by a leading backbench MP, after a Guardian investigation found that one in seven had failed their most recent hygiene inspection. “I’m certainly very supportive of introducing [a policy of mandatory display],” he said. In mid-July, 3% of businesses in Northern Ireland had a failing grade (two or below); by mid-September this had dropped to 2%. The ratio of food safety inspectors to businesses has dropped from 4.2 full-time inspectors per 1,000 food businesses in 2012-13, to 3.7 per 1,000 in 2014-15. Betts said that as well as being effective, a mandatory display scheme was likely to be cost-effective.

Source: The Guardian September 26, 2016 15:34 UTC