PETERBOROUGH kitchen expert John Ellingham has called upon local restaurants to clean up their act following a critical report from the Food Standards Agency.

The agency has reported that a number of Peterborough takeaways and restaurants need urgent improvement on their hygiene. From some of Peterborough’s most prestigious hotels, to local chip shops, a total of seven eateries gained zero stars, meaning “urgent improvements needed”, with 64 establishments across the city gaining just one star, “meaning major improvements” were required.

While the good news is that many businesses related to food preparation in the area were ranked three or above, the sub-standard levels of hygiene revealed has called for many local commercial kitchen experts to call upon the consumers to be more vigilant this Christmas.

Local commercial kitchen expert John Ellingham from Canopy UK has called upon restaurants to clean up their act. He told Peterborough Business, “Ensuring your commercial kitchen is cleaned is not only a health and safety requirement, but is it also essential to guarantee your business maintains the highest standards for both customers and staff.”

The Food Standards Agency also reports that 34 per cent of people claim that they’ve had a bad experience when eating out, with many suspecting they contracted food poisoning from a restaurant or takeaway. Despite 51 per cent of people saying they will be responsible for booking a meal for family or friends this Christmas, only three per cent of people reported that they’d checked the hygiene standards of the restaurant.

 

Catriona Stewart, head of the Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme, said, “Nobody wants the embarrassment of a Christmas meal that is less than perfect. It’s quick and easy to check a restaurants food hygiene rating online, and these should be displayed within the premises.”