One in 10 pubs poses 'a health risk'

Thousands of pubs offering food could be posing a "significant risk" to public health because of poor hygiene standards.

That is according to a new survey from the Food Standards Agency, which found that nearly one in 10 pubs (9.6%) were found to pose a significant risk, while a further 61% posed a minor risk to public health.

The UK Survey of Hygiene Standards in Food Premises 2005 involved local authorities inspectors sampling up to 20 food premises in their area.

A total of just under 5,000 surveys were conducted with 328 pubs assessed.

Take-away, restaurant andcafés were found to be the caterers posing the greatest risk, followed by pubs.

Generally, all venues employing up to five members of staff were the most likely to pose a higher health risk.

The risks fell as the number of employees increased.

Premises that had been in business between three to 12 months were twice as likely to have lower hygiene standards than business up to three months old and those that had been in existence for more than a year.

The most common breaches in standards were, in descending order: cleanliness; storage; cross-contamination; cooking; hygiene; and pest control.

Your Comments​Robert Feal-Martinez​ via email 13/07/2006"What is interesting about this survey is that it was conducted by EHO's, whose job it has always been to inspect food outlets. I would suspect there is nothing new in these findings, however the EHO's have a more pragmatic approach than the FSA whose only remit seems to be scaremongering. What is also interesting is that the FSA are actually trying to dumb down standards. Their Safer Food Better Business pack is roundly condemned by EHO's in private whilst promoting it in Public. It is far inferior to HACCUP, but they are trying to make if standard across LA's. 328 outlets out of 58000 pubs that is just .566%, or to put in scientific terms, No risk whatsoever. It is rather ironic, that cafe and restaurants whose prime purpose in life is to sell food are much worse than pubs. Says it all really. But we know we are the target for every criticism going."