Businesses are warned over food standards
MORE than a third of food establishments in Halton have received a written warning from the council in the last year.
New figures released by the Food Standards Agency have revealed that out of the 1,057 establishments in the area, 394 received at least one written warning for potentially breaching food standards in 2016-17.
Of these, five were subjected to formal enforcement actions.
In nearby St Helens meanwhile, the figures show out of the 1,392 establishments in the area, 768 received at least one written warning for potentially breaching food standards.
As well as restaurants and caterers, these include producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers of food in St Helens.
It works out at 55% of all food establishments in the area – one of the highest proportions in the country, and more than twice as high as the national average.
Across the UK, 161,845 food-related businesses received a warning from local ● councils in the last year – 26% of the total.
Nowhere else in the Liverpool City Region experienced such a high proportion of food establishments receive written warnings over the course of the 12 months.
In Sefton, for example – the area seeing the next highest rate of written warnings in the region – 718 establishments were warned in this way, or 30% of the total.
Meanwhile, Knowsley had the lowest rate of written warnings for possible breaches of food legislation in the region, with just 17% of all food businesses being warned - 129 in total.
Many establishments also had formal action taken against them.
Along with simple cautions, formal action can include voluntary closure of the business, seizure of food, and suspension or revocation of a licence.
For example, 55 establishments in Liverpool, 52 in Sefton, 28 in Wirral and eight in St Helens had formal action taken against them.
The majority of these were either served hygiene improvement notices – or had to close altogether.