East Suffolk Council

Following an inspection by Waveney District Council's Food and Safety Team, the Source Café at Waterlane Leisure Centre in Lowestoft was awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of 5 (very good) - the highest level of food hygiene possible. 

Additionally, the café was awarded an 'Eat Out Eat Well' gold award for its commitment to providing healthier food to customers. This includes keeping fat, sugar and salt to a minimum, making fruit and vegetables widely available and basing main meals on starchy carbohydrates.  The level of award is based on a scoring system that takes into account the type of food on offer, cooking methods, and how the business promotes its healthy choices. 

Cllr Mary Rudd, Waveney's cabinet member for Community Health and Safety said:

"Visitors to Waterlane are already enjoying the health benefits of physical exercise and it makes perfect sense that there are healthier food choices on offer too. Any restaurant, pub or food retailer in Suffolk with a food hygiene rating of 3 or above can apply for an 'Eat Out Eat Well' award and customers can look out for the 'Eat Out Eat Well' symbol when choosing where to eat, in addition to the green and black food hygiene sticker."

Tony Nicholl, Managing Director of Churchill Catering which operates the Source Café, said: "We are over the moon with both awards and in particular the 'Eat Out Eat Well' gold award. This is a clear indication of our company's commitment to the promotion of healthy eating and to the use of fresh local produce. Being recognised for our efforts is fantastic for our company and our staff."

Waterlane is operated by Sentinel Leisure Trust in partnership with Waveney District Council.

Chris Ames, Head of Business Development for Sentinel said:

"We are proud to work alongside Churchill Catering to provide healthy food options within our leisure centres. Both the 'Eat Out Eat Well' award and a top food hygiene rating show that the partnership is committed to the health and wellbeing of our customers."

Café East, based at the Council's Riverside building, also holds a Food Hygiene Rating of 5 and was recently awarded an 'Eat Out Eat Well' bronze award. 

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) helps customers make an informed choice about where to eat by highlighting restaurants, pubs and cafés with excellent food hygiene. Food businesses can display their black and green FHRS sticker advertising their current food safety rating, which gives customers an immediate insight into the kitchen and shows how seriously the business takes food hygiene.  

Customers are encouraged to check food hygiene ratings when choosing where to eat by looking for the FHRS sticker before ordering food. The ratings of over 440,000 food businesses can also be checked online at http://ratings.food.gov.uk.  

Fourteen other local food premises were awarded a FHRS 5 rating as a result of April inspections.

Find out more about Eat Out Eat Well at www.healthysuffolk.org.uk.