Eleven food businesses in the Isle of Man received low hygiene scores during inspections carried out between July 2024 and May 2025, according to data released under a Freedom of Information request.

Each of the premises was given a score of one under the England and Wales Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) scale, which ranges from zero to five. A score of one indicates that major improvement is necessary. In all cases, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) issued informal action and advice, including written warnings.

The list released as part of the freedom of information response (4671990) includes a range of premises such as restaurants, cafés, garages, a football club, and a convenience store.

Among those inspected were the Convenience Shopping Centre, Douglas (inspected 19 February 2025), Noa at Market Hall Limited, Douglas (4 April 2025), Time Out Noodle Bar, Castletown (4 April 2025), Chengdu Impression Chinese Restaurant, Douglas (1 November 2024), and Union Mills Football Club, Strang (4 October 2024).

Also included were Delissimo in Onchan, Babbages Bistro in Ramsey, and the Court Café, also in Ramsey.

Café Delight in Douglas, Ellan Vannin Fuels in Laxey and JR Riley Ltd at Rileys Garden Centre were also listed.

In a response issued alongside the release, DEFA confirmed that a further 10 businesses were inspected during the same period, but details were withheld under Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act. This exemption applies to ongoing investigations which may result in legal proceedings under the Food Act 1996, Food Hygiene Regulations 2007, or Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Café Noa, one of the businesses listed, issued a statement acknowledging the inspection and outlining the steps taken in response. The business clarified the inspection related only to its Market Hall site and not to Noa Bakehouse, which is registered separately.

A spokesperson said the business had not received the official report at the time of the statement but had already addressed the feedback shared during the visit. Actions included updating food labelling for clarity, formalising cleaning and temperature check records, and carrying out minor repairs to plug sockets and shelving.

‘The reality is, after more than 12 years in business without a single inspection, we became complacent in some admin areas, specifically with our labelling and record-keeping,’ the spokesperson said.

‘While all our food was labelled, we were advised that more detail was needed on those labels, so we changed that straight away.

‘We were also told that although our kitchen was clean and safe to work in, we needed to improve how we document our daily cleaning and temperature checks, something we always do but, hadn’t been logging thoroughly enough.

‘This has been a wake-up call, and we’ve been treating it with the seriousness it deserves.’

The inspections come against the backdrop of stalled plans to introduce a formal food hygiene rating scheme in the Isle of Man. Environment Minister Clare Barber recently told Tynwald that the scheme would no longer proceed due to resource constraints.

Mrs Barber said only one full-time equivalent inspector was available to carry out routine visits and that a credible scheme would require five fully trained officers. She added that training new inspectors would take at least two years.

Instead, DEFA will pursue a ‘food safety assurance programme’ focused on education, workshops, and targeted inspections. A pilot involving remote assessments of 60 premises is also planned. However, there are currently no plans to publish inspection outcomes or issue formal scores under the FHRS system.