UK Food Hygiene Rating Scheme launched

Dec. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- SCORES ON THE DOORS

The Food Standards Agency this week unveiled the new National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme to promote public awareness of the standards of hygiene in pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, supermarkets  and other premises selling food to the public.

Following the recommendation of Lord Young’s report on health and safety, the scheme allows food inspectors from the council to award a score between ‘0’ and ‘5’, based on the findings of their inspections.

Some local councils already run their own local schemes and time will tell whether they abandon these schemes on favour of the national one.

Jon Payne, a lawyer specialising in food hygiene and safety legislation from Oxford and Bournemouth-based law firm Horsey Lightly Fynn said “Many premises try extremely hard to achieve high standards of cleanliness and they can now receive some formal recognition of this. The scheme has been long awaited by the food industry and regulators and its adoption will allow for consistency across the country.”

The assessment will include checks on how food is handled and prepared, the condition of the premises and the record-keeping that is maintained by the business.  If a business has not been given a rating that it feels it deserves, there is an opportunity to appeal though an internal council procedure or through Judicial Review.

A different scheme will continue to run in Scotland.

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UK law firm specialising in safety law, including food safety and hygiene, health and safety and fire safety. website : http://www.safetylawyers.co.uk