EDINBURGH has been exposed as having the lowest food hygiene standards in Scotland and the Orkney Islands has the highest, according to consumer watchdog figures.

An investigation by Which? reveals a large degree of variation in food hygiene standards across Scotland, with some council areas much better at ensuring that their local businesses are complying with hygiene rules than others.

Researchers analysed 32 local authorities using data submitted to Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and ranked them based on the proportion of medium and high risk premises meeting hygiene requirements, total premises rated for risk, and the proportion of planned interventions such as inspections or follow-up actions the authorities achieved.

The results of Which?’s analysis found that Edinburgh is ranked bottom in Scotland, and is the eighth-lowest ranking local authority area in the UK. Glasgow achieved the second lowest score in the country.

Seven local authority areas in Scotland, including Aberdeen, Moray, Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Perth & Kinross, Glasgow and Edinburgh were ranked in the bottom 10 per cent across the UK. Just 57 per cent of medium- and high-risk businesses in Falkirk met compliance levels for food safety.

However, the Orkney Islands, followed by North Lanarkshire, topped the table for food hygiene in Scotland and finished seventh in the UK overall.

The FSA and FSS review will now look at options such as tighter checks when a food business opens and how data from businesses can be used more effectively. However, Which? is concerned that proposed reforms could see a potential shift towards more inspections being carried out by third parties employed by firms in place of checks by public authorities.

Which? is calling on the regulators to ensure that a robust food standards system is put in place that serves consumer interests and avoids any conflicts of interest and insisted that in a landscape that is heavily underpinned by EU regulation, a comprehensive strategy for enforcement post-Brexit is needed.

Alex Neill, the consumers' association managing director of home services, said: “As we prepare to leave the EU, the Government and regulators need to ensure that there is a robust, independent system of enforcement in place to give people confidence that the food they’re eating is hygienic.”

Edinburgh City Council said its team carries out robust checks on food premises, adding: “The Council does not accept that the database was designed to rank authorities in the way suggested. Many non-compliances used to achieve this ranking are often technical in nature which in no way puts the public at risk.”