Which? report places East Lothian Council in top tier for food safety

East Lothian Council is in the top bracket of the UK for food safety.

A new league table put together by consumer magazine Which? covers the whole of the UK and places East Lothian third highest in Scotland and in the top 25% of all UK authorities.

In 2016/17, 88% of East Lothian's food businesses were judged "broadly compliant" by council Environmental Health staff, achieving 98.5% of all planned interventions. ‘Broadly compliant’ is a categorisation that considers each food premises in three areas – hygiene standards, structural standards and confidence in management of the business. Depending upon the nature of any non-compliance, an officer will revisit the business to ensure that the necessary improvements have been made.

Cllr Norman Hampshire, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment said: "The results of the Which? Report are welcome news for people consuming food in East Lothian. Both local residents and visitors to East Lothian can be assured that the overwhelming majority of our food businesses are fully compliant with current legislation.

"This data also shows that East Lothian Council is keeping up to date with our food inspections, and that we are visiting business at regular scheduled intervals.

"We have over 1,150 food businesses on our database and ultimately the hard work of our Environmental Health team makes this a safer place for our residents and visitors."

In June 2017, Food Standards Scotland audited the food safety function of the Council and reported Substantial Assurance: Controls are robust and well managed, with no required improvements and further identified two areas of Good Practice.