Food hygiene: city shock over written warnings

MORE than half of all food establishments in Cardiff 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 3,325 establishments in the area, 1,712 received at least one written warning for potentially breaching food standards in 2016/17.

As well as restaurants and caterers, these include producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers of food in Cardiff.

It works out at 51 per cent of all food establishments in the area – the highest proportion in the country and much higher than the national average.

A Cardiff Council spokesman said: “The figures collated show the proactive approach by our Food Hygiene officers to ensure that food hygiene ratings are maintained.

“A large number of format letters have been sent (1,712) but over 95% of these issues have been resolved with the business owner before further action was necessary.”

The council said a written warning can cover a variety of issues.

The spokesman added: “Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and has a vibrant 24 hour economy. Food hygiene and safety is of paramount importance to the council for both our residents and visitors, so we have a robust system in place to ensure that standards are maintained .

“As the largest city in Wales, Cardiff does face challenges that other areas don’t. Firstly we host huge sporting events, which requires the council to ensure that food hygiene standards are kept to the highest possible standards. Also we have a high turnover of food businesses that change ownership and in some instances standards can fall temporarily.

“Our team continue to carry out an excellent job to ensure that new business owners become aware of the standards that are required of them.”

Across Wales, 12,499 food-related businesses received a warning from local councils in the last year - 36 per cent of the total.

Nowhere else in Wales saw such a high proportion of food establishments receive written warnings over the course of the 12 months, although some places came close.

However most of the establishments didn’t have any formal action taken against them.

As well as simple cautions, formal action can include voluntary closure of the business, seizure of food, and suspension or revocation of a licence.

In Cardiff 77 establishments had formal action taken against them.

The majority of these were either served hygiene improvement notices or had to close altogether.