A CHINESE takeaway has spoken of their pride after securing the highest possible food hygiene rating.

Dragon Palace on Chepstow Road in Newport was given a five star food hygiene rating by Newport City Council on Wednesday, September 25 following an inspection. 

The takeaway is one of the most popular in Newport and the wider community of Gwent, regularly featuring in the top five of Chinese takeaways rated or recommended by the public on review sites such as Google and TripAdvisor.

It seems the food hygiene rating has continued to reflect the takeaway's popularity, with five stars being the best grading they could have received. 

The owners are clearly very proud of the rating, sharing the good news on their social media pages the evening of the inspection. 

They wrote: "Dragon Palace has just been awarded a **5-STAR Food Hygiene Rating** – the highest grade possible!

"We are proud to uphold the highest standards in cleanliness and food safety, ensuring every meal is prepared with care and excellence.

"Thank you for your continued trust and support!

"Come dine with us and enjoy our award-winning service and delicious dishes!"

The Food Hygiene Rating Act 2013 became law in Wales on March 4, 2013, requiring all businesses selling food in Wales - including pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels, takeaways, schools, hospitals, canteens, care homes and corner shops – to display hygiene ratings in a prominent place, and to provide the information verbally if requested over the phone.

Any food hygiene inspection is graded according to three distinct categories. 

These are hygienic food handling, which covers the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage; cleanliness and condition of facilities and building, which involves the cleanliness and condition of facilities and building, including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control, to enable good food hygiene; and management of food safety which covers the system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future. 

For each category, a business is given a rating of between very unsatisfactory and very good. 

Dragon Palace was given a rating of good in all three categories. 

This meant that the overall rating given to Dragon Palace was five stars following the inspection on Wednesday, September 25. 

Dragon Palace at 472 Chepstow Road in Newport is open 5pm to 10.30pm six days a week, only closed on Tuesdays, and offers delivery as well as in-store collection.