The aims of the Environmental Heatlh department are to protect public health by the effective implementation of food safety legislation and to protect and promote the health of the public through health education, consumer awareness and participation in multi-disciplinary health promotion initiatives. In working to achieve these aims the following roles are undertaken:

• Planned inspections of all food businesses within the Council area
• Sampling of food products for microbiological examination and compositional analysis
• Investigation of consumer complaints relating to unsatisfactory food or food premises
• Provide advice to new food businesses opening in the area

The department operates according to the Food Safety Enforcement Policy, details of which are available in the files below. To download these, right click on your mouse and select "Save target as".

Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

Magherafelt District Council has agreed to sign up to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) national Food Hygiene Rating scheme. This national scheme, developed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, provides information on food hygiene standards to help you choose where to eat out or shop for food.

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is officially planned to be launched within Magherafelt District Area during September 2012 and from this date all food businesses' hygiene ratings can be accessed from the national FSA website.

How the food hygiene rating is calculated:

After each planned food hygiene inspection a food business will be given a rating for the standards of hygiene found at that time, applying the FSA's brand standard which can be accessed at the following link: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdgs/enforcement/fhrsguidance.pdf .

Three elements of the overall inspection score are used to calculate the hygiene rating:

1.The level of compliance with Food hygiene and safety procedures. This includes:

· How hygienically the food is handled - how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored

2.The level of compliance with Structural requirements. This includes:

· Cleanliness, layout, condition of structure, lighting, ventilation etc.

3.Confidence in management/control procedures. This includes:

· How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe, including having a completed safe catering pack or equivalent, the previous history of compliance in the business and staff training.

The inspection score for these three elements is then translated to the hygiene rating using the following table:

Useful Links

Food Hygiene Rating Scheme FAQ's for the public and business

Information on Safeguards for business

- Right to Appeal

- Right to Reply

- Right to Request a Revisit

You can download the appropriate forms by clicking on the following links:

Appeal application form

Right to reply application form

Revisit request application form

Scheme disclaimer
The food hygiene rating scheme is not an endorsement of current standards but merely reflects the score we awarded a premises at the time of their inspection. Nevertheless, we try very hard to make sure the information available on these pages is correct.