Nearly a fifth of Camden takeaways failed their food hygiene inspection

Data collected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) shows that over a tenth of Camden’s eating establishments, including restaurants, takeaways and coffee shops, have failed their food hygiene inspections.

The inspections rate food providers on how well the premises and utensils are maintained, what procedures there are to protect against cross-contamination, as well as how well staff are trained in food hygiene.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland use the same system, rating businesses on a scale of zero to five, a score of 3-5 is  a pass with anything lower considered a fail. Five is ‘very good’ whereas zero is ‘urgent improvement necessary’.

Out of Camden’s 2755 eating establishments, 307 failed the FSA’s hygiene inspection. This means that over 11 per cent of Camden’s food providers received a score of two to zero- 4.9 per cent higher than the national average.

The number of restaurants and cafes that failed the hygiene inspection was 12 per cent with takeaways and sandwich shops having an even higher rating- 17 per cent failing the food hygiene tests.

A business that receives a score of zero will be subject to follow-up inspections and will have to address the urgent concerns within 28 days of the original visit. Businesses can pay £160 to be reassessed or wait six months for a routine food inspection.

The data has been collected from nearly 460,000 businesses across the country. Out of this, nearly 30,000 failed the food hygiene tests including 7,000 takeaways and 8,000 restaurants.

Islington was rated as one of the ten worst places for food hygiene in the country, with a fail rate 14.8 per cent higher than the national average.

You can see the FSA’s results for Camden here.