Food Safety

Nearly half of hospitality managers think staff lack food safety awareness

13-Nov-2019 By Nikkie Thatcher

Almost half (44%) of hospitality managers say British employees fall short of their European counterparts in their knowledge of food safety and hygiene, a new report has found.

Village pub slapped with zero food-hygiene rating

31-Oct-2019 By Emily Hawkins

A village pub has been awarded the lowest food-hygiene rating of zero and its food safety management deemed to need urgent improvement.

Using tea towels for more than one job 'can cause food poisoning'

12-Jun-2018 By Nikkie Sutton

Chefs could be putting their diners’ health at risk by using tea towels for multiple jobs in the kitchen, which could lead to food poisoning, new research has warned.

11 food contaminants that could kill your customers

24-Apr-2018 By Nikkie Sutton

Food contaminants are a big concern for pub kitchens and there are many risks that must be taken into consideration.

Whitbread pub food hygiene rating drops from five to one

14-Feb-2018 By Nikkie Sutton

A West Sussex pub’s food hygiene rating has fallen from five stars to one star due to the “cleanliness and condition of facilities and building”.

Food hygiene is biggest concern for diners when eating out

01-Feb-2018 By Nikkie Sutton

More than one third (36%) of consumers rate food hygiene as their main fear, according to new research.

Acrylamide reduction legislation will come into force next April

29-Nov-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Food businesses in the UK such as pubs will have to put practical steps in place to manage acrylamide -
a potential carcinogen - within their food safety management systems under new EU legislation.

Live rat and droppings land pub with £8k fine

17-Nov-2017 By Michelle Perrett

Two licensees have been ordered to pay more than £10,000 in fines and costs after rat droppings and a live rat were found in the pub.

FSA ramps up Scores on the Doors activity before Christmas

06-Nov-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is encouraging consumers to check pubs’ Food Hygiene Ratings before booking Christmas parties.

Fit for the bin: mouldy food will force a kitchen to close

02-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Food poisoning, rats and dirty kitchens are a sure way to get your pub in the papers for the wrong reasons, and maybe even land the operator in front of a judge.

Who will pay for food safety regulations?

15-Sep-2017 By Andrew Don

The free trade is under threat from a proposed food safety regime that some believe has the potential to inflict huge financial damage unless publicans unite with other small food businesses and fight to get their voice heard.

Almost 500 SIBA breweries now hold food safety and quality accreditation

13-Sep-2017 By James Beeson

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has announced that all of its members trading on its Beerflex scheme now hold a valid SIBA Food Safety & Quality Scheme of Improvement (FSQ) certificate or professional accreditation of an even higher standard....

Pub landed with one-star rating for food management shortfall

04-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Greene King Pub Partners tenanted site in Lincolnshire has received a one-star food-hygiene rating, days after one of the pubco’s managed sites was given a zero rating.

Greene King pub gets zero rating for food hygiene

01-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A Greene King pub has been awarded a zero food-hygiene rating and has been required to make major improvement in its food safety management and food handling methods, just days after a new manager took on the site.

How to get a five star food hygiene rating

25-Aug-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Food safety issues can seriously damage a pub's reputation but, a five star food hygiene rating can improve it and The Morning Advertiser takes a look at how this can be achieved.

Unfit, mouldy food costs pub more than £1,500

22-Aug-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The licensee of a Yorkshire pub has been ordered to pay £1,535 for serious breaches of food-hygiene regulations.

Harvester pub scores zero food hygiene rating for 'significant failings'

01-Aug-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A popular Harvester pub was given a zero food hygiene rating for its cleanliness, condition of its restaurant and the management of food safety.

Most common hospitality food safety mistakes

05-Jul-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The most common food safety mistakes made in the hospitality sector include reusing unclean cloths, inadequate allergen understanding and working when ill, according to public health experts.

The Big Interview

Bidfood sets sights on growing pub customers

28-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Pubs will be a bigger focus for Bidfood (formerly Bidvest Foodservice) in the coming years, according to chief executive Andrew Selley and sales and marketing director Andy Kemp, who agree the trade is primed to grow its dry sales to new heights.

Woman dies of food poisoning after eating at Cornwall pub

01-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

A grandmother died from food poisoning after eating incorrectly prepared roast lamb at a Cornwall pub, a court has heard. 

Acrylamide reduction to become legal obligation

10-Feb-2017 By Andrew Don

Reduction of the potential carcinogen acrylamide will shortly become a legal obligation for food businesses. Here is what lies behind the headlines and how the pub trade will be affected.

FOOD HYGIENE

'Dirty and greasy' pub fined £2.5k for food hygiene violations

22-Dec-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A pub was slapped with a £2,500 bill after environmental health officers discovered a range of potentially dangerous food safety violations. 

FOOD SAFETY

Scores on the doors: the evolution of food safety regulations

15-Nov-2016 By Andrew Don

With moves afoot to introduce a new regulatory system that would see pubs and other food businesses mandated to display food hygiene ratings, it has never been more important for publicans to get on top of food-safety systems to ensure they don’t fall...

Food safety

How food hygiene ratings can help your business

07-Sep-2016 By Poppleston Allen

Marketing that you are 5 point rated for food hygiene may be as good as a high-quality menu offer.

Food safety

New food safety guidelines after grandmother ‘dies of suspected food poisoning’

06-Jul-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Food safety and hygiene experts are set to reveal a nationally recognised guide to legal hygiene practices, days after a woman died of suspected food poisoning linked to eating at a pub carvery.

Licensee stunned to receive zero hygiene rating for falling behind on paperwork

30-Jun-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A licensee has spoken of his dismay at being slapped with a zero food hygiene rating for paperwork and structural issues.

Food safety failures: don't make the headlines

15-Jun-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

Recent events have driven home the point that slip-ups — when it comes to food safety, allergens and cleaning — have the potential to devastate businesses and lethally tarnish reputations. Daniel Woolfson looks at how operators can safeguard themselves...

FOOD SAFETY

Restaurateur peanut manslaughter case 'serious warning' for pubs

25-May-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A restaurateur's conviction of manslaughter by gross negligence should be a "serious warning" when it comes to food safety, leading experts have warned.

FOOD SAFETY

New food safety guidelines launched in wake of peanut allergy death

24-May-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

The British Hospitality Association (BHA), in association with food safety experts, has launched a new industry guide designed to help food businesses avoid potentially dangerous slip-ups.

Food safety

Diners prefer rude staff to dirty premises, research shows

27-Apr-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Diners would sooner put up with rude staff than a dirty or unclean venue, according to new research that revealed 61% of UK consumers wouldn’t risk eating in an establishment that had a low Food Standards Agency hygiene rating.

Food safety

Rare burger risk warnings ‘not enough to save you in court’

21-Mar-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Warning pub customers about the potential dangers of ordering and eating high-risk foods – such as oysters and rare burgers – is unlikely to be enough of a defence to stave off prosecution in the event of legal action.

Food Safety

Britain’s fruit and veg supplies ‘overlapped by drug cartels’

22-Feb-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

The countries supplying Britain's fresh fruit and vegetables are overlapped by drug-smuggling gangs, an expert in the field has revealed, following warnings that operators may have long-since been at risk of many types of food fraud.

News Analysis: Food Safety

‘Multimillion-pound fines’ for unsafe food operators

04-Feb-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Diners need to know the food they are eating at your site is safe but some experts fear budget cuts could see a reduction in safety measures. Nicholas Robinson investigates

Food safety

Consumers' health 'put at risk' through Government budget cuts

01-Feb-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Complaints from consumers about food quality and safety have reached a high following Government budget cuts to local authorities, which has resulted in councils failing to carry out enough food safety inspections, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has...

Advice

Profit by putting food on board

19-Nov-2015 By Poppleston Allen

You might now be thinking about your business plans for the new year, and what you could do to differentiate your offering from that of your competitors.

Rare burgers ‘not worth the hassle’, PMA readers say

02-Nov-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Serving rare burgers “is not worth the food safety hassle”, according to a Twitter poll of Publican’s Morning Advertiser readers.

Food safety

New food safety qualifications launched

19-Oct-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Six new food safety qualifications to help food businesses prepare safe and legal meals have been launched by the British Safety Council.

Rare burger rules ‘won’t keep diners safe’

28-Sep-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Food businesses won’t be able to guarantee consumer safety when serving rare burgers, even after implementing the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) new guidance, experts have warned.

Rare burger rule change ‘costly’ for pub chefs

10-Sep-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Serving rare burgers in UK food businesses could be expensive and remain potentially dangerous, even with new Food Standards Agency (FSA) controls in place, a leading food safety consultant has warned.

Food hygeine

Surrey pub hit with £13k fine for mouse infestation

01-Jun-2015 By Oli Gross

A mouse infestation led to a £13,916.66 fine after a gastropub pleaded guilty to food hygiene offences, but the pub since improved to gain a food rating of five.

FSA and Made in Chelsea star raising Valentine's Day food hygiene awareness

09-Feb-2015 By Daniel Woolfson

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has embarked on a Valentine's-themed scheme to increase customer awareness of venues’ food hygiene ratings.

M&B fined £1.5m after Christmas Day food poisoning prosecution

23-Jan-2015 By Ellie Bothwell

Managed pub operator Mitchells and Butlers (M&B) has been fined £1.5m following its conviction of a food hygiene offence which led to the death of a customer.

M&B faces fine after Christmas Day food poisoning prosecution

26-Nov-2014 By Mike Berry

Managed pub operator Mitchells and Butlers (M&B) has insisted food safety is the company’s “highest priority” following its conviction of a food hygiene offence which led to the death of a customer.

Tougher sentencing guidelines proposed for food safety breaches

13-Nov-2014 By Ellie Bothwell

Publicans who fail to comply with food safety and hygiene laws could face a fine of 700% of their weekly income or 18 months in prison, under new proposals from the Sentencing Council.

Advice: counterfeit food and drink

27-Oct-2014 By Andrew Don

An offer that is too good to be true usually is, says Andrew Don, who has investigated the scourge of counterfeit food and drinks.

Food Standards Agency report highlights public’s concerns when eating out

21-Jul-2014 By Elliot Kuruvita

A new Food Standards Agency report shows food hygiene and pricing are the top concerns for people when eating out.

Business Advice

The Fight Against Grime

16-May-2014 By Phil Mellows

When it comes to catering for the public, nothing comes higher than food hygiene and, as Phil Mellows reveals, running a tight ship is the only sound approach

5 food safety tips for pubs

15-Nov-2013 By Poppleston Allen

The food safety enforcement regime is something operators should be acutely aware of. It is imperative to have good systems and procedures to protect yourselves from enforcement action, which can be damaging and costly to your business. Here are 5 tips...

Food hygiene and poisoning top concern for consumers

19-Jul-2013 By Lesley Foottit

The top two concerns for consumers when eating out are food hygiene (40%) and food poisoning (30%).

Horsemeat scandal: Pubs face prosecution for not putting checks on meat served to customers

15-Feb-2013 By Adam Pescod

A food standards expert has warned that businesses risk prosecution if they don’t have proper systems in place to trace the source of the meat they sell or serve to the public.