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11
Jul
Harrogate loses first place food hygiene ranking
For the first time since 2019, Harrogate is no longer the highest-ranking area in Yorkshire and the Humber for food hygiene.
A report based on 20,000 places serving food in Yorkshire saw Harrogate lose the top spot to Rotherham.
Online training company High-Speed Training analysed the results of Food Standards Agency checks and ranked them by score.
The government body awards all food businesses in the UK a hygiene score on a scale of 0-5 to help customers decide where to eat.
The ratings are based on hygienic food handling and practices, physical condition of the premises and layout, and confidence in management.
The food hygiene rating scoring system, by High Speed Training (2024)
The survey considered 315 establishments in Harrogate and 61 in Ripon.
Harrogate's average ratings was 4.77 — just below Rotherham, whose score was 4.81.
Ripon ranked fourth, with a score of 4.69.
In the national table, Southport came out top out of 126 towns and cities, with an average rating of 4.91, and Wigan, just 20 miles away, came last with an average rating of 3.92.
Nationally, Harrogate placed joint 10th with Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Ripon came joint 16th alongside Basingstoke, Brighton and Hove, Chichester, Milton Keynes and Wells.
No other towns in the Harrogate district were included in the survey.
Yorkshire and the Humber placed sixth of the 11 regions investigated.
Ranking details for Yorkshire and the Humber, by High Speed Training (2024)
Dr Richard Anderson, head of learning and development at High Speed Training said:
Recently, we have seen many high profile cases of food poisoning and illnesses caused by food-borne bacteria. This is why food hygiene ratings are so important - they are a direct reflection of how safely and hygienically that establishment operates and are of critical importance to consumers.
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