Ealing Tories have criticised the council for being "complacent" after the borough was ranked the fourth worst place for food hygiene in the UK.
Consumer group Which? released league tables last week of the best and worst places for food hygiene, from data submitted by 398 UK local authorities to the Food Standards Agency.
The research looked at the proportion of premises ranked as ‘high or medium risk’, the percentage of premises that had been rated for risk, and the proportion of inspections and other follow-ups that were carried out by local authority inspectors.
Ealing Conservative leader Greg Stafford said: “This is an extremely worrying report which not only shows that Ealing is fourth worst in the country but third worst when measured against comparable London boroughs.
“Councillor Dheer’s response which seeks to cast aspersions on Which? - a highly respected and impartial consumer organisation - demonstrates the level of complacency from Ealing’s Labour council.
"Food hygiene and safety in our borough is extremely important and effective enforcement and deterrents are required to protect the public from sloppy or negligent traders."
However Councillor Ranjit Dheer, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for community services and safety, believes the borough is being treated unfairly.
He said: “Ealing has one of the highest numbers of food premises in London with more than 3,200 establishments including large food manufacturers, restaurants, cafés and shops. It is wholly inappropriate to compare Ealing Council to authorities with far fewer food premises, including boroughs with a very different profile of complex food businesses.
“The methodology Which? says they have used demonstrates a complete lack of understanding and total disregard for the complexities of the roles being undertaken by food safety teams across the country. We seriously question the legitimacy of the report.”
He added: “Public safety is a priority for Ealing Council. It has a strong environmental health team which does not hesitate to take enforcement action where there is a risk to public health.
"In 2013/2014, the council served the highest number of Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notices of the London boroughs and the second highest number nationally.”
Ealing has one of the highest numbers of food premises in London with more than 3,200 establishments.
Since April 2014, the council has carried out more than 963 inspections on the highest risk premises across the borough and found about 80 per cent of food establishments are compliant with food hygiene requirements and have a rating of three stars or more.
The council said 438 premises have a rating of five stars.
The bottom 10 local authorities on food enforcement, according to Which?:
- Enfield
- City of Edinburgh
- Lewisham
- Ealing
- Harrow
- Perth and Kinross
- Falkirk
- Birmingham
- Camden
- Brent
