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Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Bill – Frequently Asked Questions

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Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Bill

The consultation document explains what we consider the Bill should contain and asks for comments on the proposals.

What you need to know.

What is the aim of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme?

The scheme requires food businesses to display their hygiene rating sticker, numbered “0” (urgent improvement necessary) to “5” (very good), usually in the window of their premises.  The rating will also be displayed online at the Food Standards Agency website.  This enables consumers to make informed choices of where to eat out or shop for food and encourages food businesses to improve their hygiene standards.

What changes are proposed?

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) together with local authorities already operate a voluntary scheme in Wales, but this has a weakness in that businesses are not required to display their food hygiene rating. The mandatory scheme will require food businesses to display their food hygiene rating stickers and local authorities to continue to implement the scheme.    

Why introduce legislation on a food hygiene rating scheme?

Good food hygiene is vital for the protection of human health.  Food poisoning can cause serious health problems and death. Food hygiene rating schemes in other countries have shown they improve food hygiene standards and reduce the risk of food poisoning.    Who runs the voluntary scheme?

The scheme is run by local authorities in Wales in partnership with the FSA.  The FSA is the UK non-ministerial government department responsible for food safety. It gives local authorities advice, training, and other support to deliver the scheme.

Why not continue the scheme on a voluntary basis?

The voluntary scheme is working well in Wales and food businesses with higher food hygiene ratings are displaying their stickers.  Food businesses with lower food hygiene ratings are not displaying them. The mandatory display of food hygiene ratings will require all hygiene ratings to be displayed.

How are food hygiene ratings awarded and what do the ratings mean?

Ratings are determined by an authorised food safety officer,usually an Environmental Health Officer or an officer with equivalent food premises inspection qualifications working for a Local Authority. They consider the rating criteria during the inspections they perform  and issuing a hygiene rating to the food business for display.  The ratings are:

0 - Urgent improvement necessary
1 - Major improvement necessary
2 - Improvement necessary
3 – Generally satisfactory
4 – Good
5 – Very Good

What are the ratings based on?

The rating is based on an assessment of how well a food business complies with food law. It is based on criteria including food handling standards such as how the food is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored, the structural condition of the premises and management and record keeping procedures.  

Why are food businesses with a ”0” hygiene rating allowed to stay open?

A “0” rating does not mean that there is an imminent risk to health.  The Environmental Health Officer would take action to prohibit part of an operation or close a food business if there were such a risk.   A business with a “0” rating would be subject to prompt follow-up action and re-inspection by the local authority.  

How will putting a sticker on a door or window lead to food hygiene improvements?

All food businesses will have to display their hygiene rating sticker.
It will be visible to potential customers that food businesses with low scores of “0”, “1” or “2” require improvement.  The negative impact this may have on their business is likely to encourage them to improve their food hygiene practice to obtain a better rating to display.  

What establishments will be covered by the scheme?

The FSA scheme applies to places where consumers eat out (including restaurants, takeaways, mobile caterers, cafés, hotels, pubs, schools, hospitals and residential care homes) as well as places where consumers shop for food (such as supermarkets, bakeries, and delicatessens).

Do consumers support the scheme?

A Consumer Focus Wales survey in October 2011 showed that 94 per cent of people in Wales thought it should be compulsory for food businesses to display their food hygiene rating score.

Won’t a mandatory scheme be a burden on business?

No.  Businesses are already required to legally comply with hygiene regulations set out in food law.  The scheme simply requires that businesses must display the hygiene rating sticker they have been awarded.  Those businesses with poorer ratings may loose custom as a result of having to display them.

What support will food businesses be given to achieve good ratings?

Food businesses will be offered assistance to engage with the scheme and improve their scores.  The FSA will continue to make funding available to Welsh local authorities so that they can carry out additional advisory visits to businesses to help them improve their food hygiene ratings, particularly those where a poor rating is primarily due to inadequate written food safety procedures.

How frequently will businesses be inspected?

The frequency of programmed inspections by a local authority will be based on an assessment of risk to the consumer, such as the type of food business, the nature of the food and the size of the business.

Businesses will be able to continue to request a re-rating inspection under the proposed mandatory scheme after carrying out suitable remedial action and they will also be able to appeal against their score if they consider it unjust or unfair.  However, the local authority will be required to charge a food business for the cost of undertaking a re-rating inspection.

When will a mandatory scheme come into effect?

It is expected that the earliest a mandatory scheme will come into operation will be late 2013 to include a period to allow businesses time to prepare.

What penalties are proposed for non-compliance?

The legislation proposes the introduction of fixed penalty notices of £200 for offences such as non-display of a rating with discounts for early payment.  There are also powers to prosecute with a proposed maximum fine of £1000.