WHICH food outlets in West Somerset are rated worst for hygiene according to the Food Standards Agency website?


The County Gazette has been looking into which restaurants, cafes, shops have received the lowest published ratings from the Food Standard Agency during hygiene inspections.


The Ship Inn at Porlock Weir is the only food outlet in West Somerset to receive a zero rating, which means that urgent improvement is necessary.
The Porlock Weir pub, often referred to as The Bottom Ship, received the rating in October 2015. They have a had an FSA visit in November but the results of this have not been published as yet.


There were eight outlets listed on the Food Standards Agency website in West Somerset which received a rating of one for hygiene, which means major improvement is necessary.


These include Carhampton Stores, The Crown Hotel at Exford, Dunster Castle Hotel, Station Cafe in Williton, Park Avenue Food Court and Sugar Cafe Bar in Minehead, The White Horse Inn at Stogumber and The Carew Arms in Crowcombe.


Carhampton Stores, Sugar Cafe Bar, Park Avenue Food Court and Station Cafe all had their inspections more than a year ago meanwhile the others had their ratings given within the last 12 months.


It is likely that many of these businesses will have been inspected and improved their ratings since but not had their results published yet. 


Each business is given their hygiene rating when it is inspected by a food safety officer from the business’s local authority. The food safety officer inspecting the business checks how well the business is meeting the law by looking at three main criteria.


The first is how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored. 


The second is the condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities, and the final one is how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.


Unlike in Wales, businesses in England and Northern Ireland do not have to display their hygiene rating by law.