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Aberdeen City and the Highlands have been ranked the least hygienic place to eat in Scotland

Union Street, Aberdeen. Picture by Kath Flannery.
Union Street, Aberdeen. Picture by Kath Flannery.

New research has revealed that nearly 20% of Aberdeen City’s food businesses do not meet the legal requirements for food standards.

The region has been ranked the least hygienic place to eat in the country.

One in six Aberdeen food businesses, including restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways and supermarkets were deemed to have unsatisfactory hygiene standards.

Data taken from the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) was analysed to decipher the food businesses with the highest and lowest hygiene standards.

Through FHIS, businesses are rated using ‘Pass and Eat Safe’, ‘Pass’ and ‘Improvement Required’.

Maxima Kitchen Equipment gathered the ratings of 1,738 businesses across Aberdeen City.

Only two achieved the top rating, while 309 required improvement.

A spokesman for Maxima Kitchen Equipment said: “In Scotland there are around 43,000 cases of food-borne illnesses annually, therefore finding reputable food establishments is crucial to the public.

“The majority of food businesses in Scotland do pass the minimum requirements, however there is always room for improvement to ensure safe food preparation and handling.”

Highlands hit a low

The Highlands were ranked as the region with the second lowest hygiene standards in Scotland.

A total of 2,709 businesses across the region have been ranked by FHIS, nearly 15% of which were deemed to be unsatisfactory.

Third on the list was Edinburgh, where only 53 out of 4,266 businesses received the Eat Safe ranking.

Where ranked high?

The data also revealed the regions with the most hygienic food businesses in Scotland.

South Ayrshire came out of top, with less than 1% of businesses there requiring improvement.

Orkney and the Western Isles also placed in the top ten, with many businesses in both areas receiving the Eat Safe seal of approval.

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.