Check the scores on the doors before tucking into your meal

If you’re planning to eat at a café, restaurant or takeaway, then make sure you ‘look before you book’ and check out the food hygiene ratings.

You can’t tell a restaurant’s hygiene standards by how clean and tidy the staff look or by how busy the restaurant is.

There is one easy way to set your mind at rest – check the rating online. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme can take one load off your mind and gives you the reassurance that all areas of hygiene that you can’t see have been checked.

Food safety officers from Blackburn with Darwen Council visit all premises in the borough for inspections and give a rating from 0-5, with 5 being the top score for hygiene and food safety measures.

In Blackburn with Darwen more than nine out of 10 food businesses have a rating of 3 – generally satisfactory – or higher.

Tony Watson, Director of Environment and Public Protection at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said:

If you’re planning on eating out in Blackburn with Darwen I’d like to remind you to ‘look before you book.

If there’s no score on the door it’s maybe best to check out the rating first on the Food Standards Agency website.”

To find the rating for a business you’re buying food from then look out for the window sticker at the premises, check online at  www.food.gov.uk/ratings or download the Food Hygiene Rating app.