By Rachael Grealish

The Food Hygiene Report 2024 has been revealed and Carlisle has made it into the UK’s top 10 rated cities.

All food businesses in the UK are given a Food Hygiene rating, ranking them on a scale of zero to five by the Food Standards Agency.

The ratings allow consumers to understand an establishment’s approach to hygienic practices and make informed decisions about where they choose to eat.

Food Hygiene ratings also allow businesses to underline their commitment to maintaining high standards for potential customers.

Cumbria’s only city, Carlisle, was included on the list and made it into place number seven on the cities ranking list, for the High-Speed Training Food Hygiene Report.

The city’s 285 food establishments were rated and ranked and they gave the city an average rating of 4.8.

Out of all the cities in the North West region Carlisle placed in second, just behind Southport, which has an average rating of 4.91.

Out of the 11 regions ranked, the North West, however, only came in at number seven on the list – but it was London that took the bottom slot.

London had the lowest average rating in the study, with a score of 4.36, though the area had by far the most establishments, with almost 36,000 premises contributing to the rating.

Overall the region change for the North West went from 4.44 in 2023 to 4.46 in 2024 and the number of rated premises in the region fell from 27,383 in 2023 to 27,170 in 2024.

Overall findings in the report showed scores were generally high, with 87 per cent of businesses scoring a 4 or 5, with 70 per cent scooping top marks.

Also, one in 5 (20 per cent) of takeaways across the UK scored a 3 or below, for their rating, with 480 businesses across the UK scoring a zero.

All in all, 480 premises scored a 0, and 3,426 scored just a 1 for their rating.

The recently elected MP for Carlisle, Julie Minns, spoke to The Herdwick News about these findings.

Ms Minns said: “These findings underline Carlisle’s increasing reputation as a destination for good food.

“From popular local cafes and takeaways, to restaurants offering modern European and Asian cooking, it’s clear that owners and chefs are taking the right steps to ensure their food is carefully prepared and of the best quality.”