Edinburgh ranked among worst UK cities for food hygiene standards

Consumer watchdog Which? has revealed the UK's best and worst places for food hygiene – and Edinburgh has been named as Scotland's second biggest offender.

Which? looked at Food Standards Agency data for 384 local council areas in the UK in an attempt for greater transparency about food hygiene ratings.

This comes as new research from the watchdog reveals the best and worst areas of the UK for takeaway and restaurant food hygiene. Scotland has its own food hygiene systems, with restaurants rated “pass” or “improvement required”.

The percentage of businesses in Edinburgh with an 'improvement required" rating is 20.11%.

Edinburgh ranks as Scotland's second worst city for food hygiene standards

Aberdeen City was found to have the worst food hygiene in Scotland, with 23.78% of businesses with an 'improvement required" rating.

The Midlothian council area was eighth on the list, with an 'improvement required" rating of 12.81%.

East Lothian, meanwhile, ranked among the cleanest areas for food hygiene, with an impressive 98% of eateries achieving a passing grade.

Which? magazine editor Lisa Barber said: “Our research has found that while some areas are blessed with impressive food hygiene levels across the board, others have large numbers of food businesses, including restaurants and takeaways, with sloppy standards that risk making customers seriously ill.

“There is strong evidence to suggest that food businesses up their game when they know they will have to prominently display their hygiene rating.

“It must urgently become mandatory for food businesses, including restaurants and takeaways, to display their score on the premises and online, so customers can make informed choices.”

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Frank O'Donnell

Editorial Director