Northumberland’s food businesses are above national average for food hygiene standards with 98.3% rated 3 or above.  

Businesses in the county that supply, sell or provide food are all subject to a food hygiene inspection and a report going to councillors later this month shows the county's traders are performing well.  

Councillor Colin Horncastle, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Community Services, said: “To be above the national average is great for Northumberland. It shows that our food businesses are working extremely hard to have the very best hygiene standards.  

“Our officers work closely with our local businesses to ensure they are supported in achieving good hygiene standards and we are confident that we can continue on this upward trend in the future.”  

Food hygiene inspections help residents and visitors when choosing to eat out or shop for food by giving clear information about the hygiene standards of Northumberland’s businesses.  

Rated from 5 to 0 - businesses are rated from very good to urgent improvement is required:  

• 5 – hygiene standards are very good 
• 4 – hygiene standards are good 
• 3 – hygiene standards are generally satisfactory 
• 2 – some improvement is necessary 
• 1 – major improvement is necessary 
• 0 – urgent improvement is required 

While businesses are not required to display food hygiene ratings, many choose to in their windows and online.  
Ratings are also searchable at https://ratings.food.gov.uk 

Inspections will look at how hygienically the food is handled, the physical condition of the business and how the business manages ways of keeping food safe, looking at processes, training and systems to ensure good hygiene is maintained.  

“Local authority officers rate food businesses based on the standards of food hygiene found at the time of inspection. It is extremely important that this is carried out so our residents and visitors are well informed and can make their own decisions on where they eat and shop.  

“However, it is still the responsibility of the business to comply with food hygiene law at all times and maintain good hygiene standards, and as we can see here through our high standards the majority of Northumberland’s businesses are choosing to do so”, continued Cllr Horncastle. 
 

Where a food business does achieve a low score, food safety officers work closely with owners advising them on the actions they need to take to improve their hygiene rating and comply with food hygiene legislation.  

 

The officer will also tell the business how quickly these improvements must be made - this will depend on the type of issue that needs to be addressed.  Officers also have several enforcement options available to them as well as giving advice and guidance, to make sure these improvements are made.