Food Safety Rating and Scores on the doors

Local Authorities operate schemes to provide information to customers of food businesses to enable them to make informed choices about the places where they eat out or purchase food from.

The Local Authority Enforcement Officers (Environmental Health Officers, or EHO) are responsible for inspecting food businesses. This is to ensure that they meet the legal requirements on food hygiene. Under the ‘Scores on the Doors’ schemes, each food outlet is given a hygiene rating or hygiene score that reflects the inspection findings and may display this in their premises where consumers can see it. Scores are also available via websites where consumers can see the scores for all the businesses in the local area.

Over two hundred Local Authorities operate a version of the Food Hygiene scheme, based on the scores on the doors approach. Under the Food Standards Agency ratings, a business can be given one of these hygiene ratings:

Food hygiene rating is ‘0’: Urgent improvement necessary

Food hygiene rating is ‘1’: Major improvement necessary

Food hygiene rating is ‘2’: Improvement necessary

Food hygiene rating is ‘3’: Generally satisfactory

Food hygiene rating is ‘4’: Good

Food hygiene rating is ‘5’: Very good

The principle is that the food safety officer inspecting a business checks how well the business is meeting the law by looking at:

– how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored

– the condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities

– how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe

At the end of the inspection, the business is given one of the six ratings. The top rating of ‘5’ means that the business was found to have ‘very good’ hygiene standards. Any business should be able to reach this top rating.  The food safety officer will explain to the person who owns or manages the business what improvements are needed and how they can achieve the top rating of ‘5’. The local authority will check that these improvements are made. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme has been designed to make sure that the ratings given to businesses are fair.

Creating a food safety management system does not have to be complicated, and training is also very easy to do. To find out how we can help you call us on 01509 550023.