SWEET SCORE FOR SUGARCANE IN FOOD HYGIENE RATING

A bistro in Comber is celebrating sweet success after achieving a perfect score in the new nationwide food hygiene rating scheme.

The Sugarcane Coffee Company in Comber is among 40% of local Ards food-related businesses to achieve a top rating of 5, but the only one to achieve a faultless assessment.

Under the new national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), which was launched at the beginning of June across Northern Ireland and rates the food hygiene standards places where people can eat or buy food, food businesses are rated on a scale of zero to five, with zero meaning 'urgent improvement necessary' and the top rating of five representing a 'very good' standard of food hygiene.

Mayor of Ards, Councillor Mervyn Oswald, congratulated the eaterie on its success:

"This national scheme means consumers can check food hygiene standards at the click of a button or keep an eye out for the green and black stickers and is a boost to consumer confidence, as well as an undoubted selling point for those businesses which perform well," said Councillor Oswald. "I'm delighted that so many businesses in Ards have shown to have such high standards of hygiene and offer my congratulations to the Sugarcane Coffee Company in particular for its outstanding score,"

The scheme uses information gathered by Environmental Health Officers during routine inspections of food premises and is based on three areas of assessment: hygiene, structure and confidence in management. Northern Ireland already boasts some of the highest food hygiene ratings available with the vast majority of all rated businesses scoring an impressive four out of five or the top five out of five rating. In Ards there are close to 500 hygiene-rated food businesses with 70% holding a rating of four or five. Anyone wanting to find out more about the scheme or check out food hygiene ratings can log on to www.food.gov.uk/ratings.