Grime and Dine: The Truth Behind Food Hygiene Ratings

A recent BBC Investigation has discovered that dozens of establishments in east London were misrepresenting their Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme (FHRS).

The most shocking was a Sainsbury’s local store in Leyton which promoted the top mark of 5, whilst its official Food Standards Agency (FSA) rating at the time was 0.

Clearly from this investigation, a positive food hygiene score is of utmost importance to businesses. Food hygiene ratings are awarded following an inspection from your local Food Safety Officer (FSO) or an Environmental Health Officer (EHO). The ratings range from 0-5. With more people than ever using the FHRS, a bad score really could make or break a business. The FSO or EHO will inspect the premises and provide an assessment as to how well they consider the business complies with food safety law.

There are three safeguards in place to ensure that the scheme is fair to business. As a business:

• you can make an appeal
• you have a ‘right to reply’
• you can request a re-rating inspection from your local authority when improvements have been made

How to appeal a food hygiene rating:

• within 14 days of the inspection, you will receive a written assessment
• if the findings are unfounded, you can appeal the award
• firstly, contact the FSO/EHO and find out the reasons behind the assessment
• an appeal must be made within 21 days of receiving the food hygiene rating
• failure to do so within the 21 days means the rating will be published on the FSA website possibly resulting in reputational damage.
• if you chose to appeal, you will receive the result of the appeal within 21 days from the date the appeal was received by your local authority.

Dealing with a bad food hygiene rating:

• the Right to Reply Scheme offers operators the opportunity to write to the Food Safety Officer and explain to its customers any steps it has taken to improve hygiene standards
• you can request a re-visit before the next planned inspection which is an important step in getting an improved food hygiene rating
• be aware some Local Authorities have introduced a charge to cover the costs.

At the re-visit the Food Safety Officer will assess the standards of hygiene at your premises and you will be notified in writing – either at the time or within 14 days – what your new food hygiene rating is. As with the original hygiene rating you can appeal this if you think it is unfair or wrong or submit a ‘right to reply’ for publication online at food.gov.uk/ratings.

This article is for general information only. For further information please contact Julie Gowland or a member of Birketts’ Regulatory and Corporate Defence Team. Law covered as at October 2024.

Food Standards Agency to raise lies found by BBC investigation – BBC News