Wales is looking to introduce new regulations to ensure people know the hygiene standards of eating establishments. Why is the rest of the UK lagging?
Wales has proposed a new set of regulations that would require food businesses to place a statement on ‘printed publicity materials’ (eg takeaway menus) encouraging customers to check their food hygiene rating using the Food Standards Agency (FSA) online ‘Scores on the Doors’ tool.
Since November 2013, it has been compulsory for establishments serving food in Wales to display their food hygiene rating from the FSA prominently, for instance on their front window.
But it’s not law in the rest of the UK for the rating to be displayed on the shop front.
Why do we need to see the rating?
Since it’s not compulsory to display your rating in the rest of the UK, a place with a low score can simply choose not to display it. Chances are, if you’re hungry and a place looks decent enough from the outside, you might go inside. If it’s not obviously revolting from a front-of-house perspective, you’ll probably stay for a meal or grab a takeaway too. But who knows what's going on in the kitchen?
How does the scale work?
Restaurants are scored by the FSA from 0-5, where 5 is a 'very good' hygiene score and 0 means 'urgent improvement necessary'. In my opinion, a food business which has received a score of less than 3 out of 5 shouldn’t be allowed to operate until they’ve proven they’re capable of keeping their kitchen and dining areas in a suitable condition.
While the FSA itself does encourage people to use its Scores on the Doors app, that isn't something that has garnered a huge amount of publicity. And wouldn’t it just be easier to change the law to make displaying your rating mandatory? That way, we can be sure that we are choosing to eat food created and served by chefs and floor staff who care enough about their customers to maintain a sanitary environment.
What about Wales?
Wales is moving in the right direction. We should not be allowing restaurants with substandard hygiene ratings to serve food – and even if you think there might be room for some leeway, surely the last thing we should be doing is to let the bad ones do is to cover up their problems.
Why bother scoring them at all if the bad ones can just keep silent about their rating?
Scotland
Scotland use a different system, where restaurants are presented with either a 'pass' or 'improvement required' notice. I think that bringing in the 0-5 scoring system might help customers distinguish between those who barely scraped through, and those who actually make an effort.
FSA response
I asked the FSA about the developments in Wales. A spokesperson said that the “mandatory display of food hygiene ratings offer additional benefits for consumers and those businesses that have good hygiene standards.”
We will hopefully be seeing the same rules implemented in England soon, as the spokesperson goes on to say that the FSA is “pleased” that Wales has adopted compulsory display, and that it has “started to build the case” for the same rules to be introduced to England.
The Northern Ireland Assembly is “due to begin consideration of similar legislation in early November".
Fingers crossed that proposed changes can be brought before parliament in a timely fashion. The sooner, the better I say.
Do you think that the mandatory display of a food hygiene ranking is necessary? Should restaurants with extremely low scores be allowed to continue serving customers? Let us know your opinions in the Comments below.
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Scores on the Doors: how food hygiene ratings work