Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
About the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
The Food Standards Agency has introduced a national scheme to score food businesses between 0 and 5. The scheme will allow consumers to make informed choices about the places they go to eat out or where they go to buy food.
Hyndburn Borough Council implemented this scheme from the 1 June 2011, along with many other Local Authorities in Lancashire.
The ratings scheme helps customers choose where to eat out, or shop for food, by giving them information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways and hotels. Supermarkets and other food shops are also included in the scheme.
The scheme is being run by local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in partnership with the Food Standards Agency.
Each business in the Borough will be given a ‘hygiene rating’ when it is inspected by one of Hyndburn Council’s food safety officers. The rating shows how closely the business is meeting the requirements of food hygiene law.
Customers who are eating out or shopping for food, are encouraged to look for a sticker in the window or on the door, or a certificate, showing the hygiene rating for that business. Customers can also search for the hygiene ratings via the link on the council’s website.
Businesses will be encouraged to display their stickers and certificates in a place where they will be easily seen by customers visiting their premises.