A third of school canteens fail hygiene tests

Belgium’s food safety agency has found that one in three school canteens do not pass hygiene tests, new figures reveal.

The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (Afsca) inspected 1,008 school kitchens in 2024, 67.7% of which received a favourable report.

However, Afsca spokeswoman Aline Van den Broeck that non-compliant establishments mainly received warnings (358) for issues that were not serious or seen as a health risk.

“The most common failings concern hand hygiene, for example: not enough wash basins, staff touching the taps and/or not enough satisfactory washing and drying facilities (12.3% non-compliant); unsatisfactory personal hygiene and a lack of clean clothing (9.1% non-compliant); and surfaces not clean enough on which to prepare food (7.7% non-compliant).”

The agency provides free training for employees of communal kitchens. In 2024, 2,016 people took this course.

Afsca has been monitoring the entire food chain for 25 years, with 1,400 employees carrying out more than 107,000 inspections annually.