Almost half of Birmingham's German Christmas market food stalls failed first hygiene checks

Almost half of the food and drink stalls at Birmingham's Christmas market failed its initial hygiene inspection, the council has revealed.

Environmental Health officers visited 39 stalls on November 4, before the market opened to the public.

Out of those stalls at Birmingham's Christmas German market, 22 passed, while the remaining 17 had "minor issues" which were quickly resolved.

The City Council said the issues were "around pest proofing, paperwork, allergen information and temperature control."

There are around 56 stalls at the market, which is open 10am to 9pm every day until Christmas, with stalls offering everything from ornaments and decorations to festive foods.

It is these food stalls which were subject to a visit from environmental health earlier this year, with encouraging results across the board.

A city council spokesperson said: "Three remaining premises were revisited for allergen labelling / pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) matters - which is covered by new legislation only applicable in the UK, so some businesses were unprepared.

"These were resolved either by labelling or removing PPDS products from sale," it added.

There are around a third fewer stalls at this year's market than in previous years, with Covid meaning that there are just 56 stalls at this year's event compared to more than 80 in 2019.

Birmingham's Christmas market was listed as one of the top markets in the world to visit this festive season by the Telegraph - with the council previously estimating around five million people visit the city each year to see the market.