No scores on the doors yet for food hygiene

Agreement on a ‘scores on the doors’ UK-wide food hygiene scheme is unlikely to be reached when the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board meets on December 10, according to a source close to the FSA.

The FSA had been seeking agreement on a single scheme for ‘scores on the doors’ across the UK to enable consumers to directly compare the hygiene standards of different catering outlets. But it is proving difficult to reach consensus between UK regions that are piloting different approaches - such as Scotland - and different interest groups, such as retail outlets, said the source.

Unless a single scheme is used, consistency and comparison between outlets in different parts of the UK would be virtually meaningless, complained some opponents of the proposals. The FSA has made a commitment to make a recommendation for a national scheme as part of its Strategic Plan to 2010 by the end of 2008.

‘Scores on the doors’ is intended to show consumers how well catering and retail outlets complied with food hygiene regulations through schemes run by their local authority and enforced by their inspectors.

Under the ‘scores on the doors’ scheme, each food outlet would be given a score that reflected the inspection findings and could be displayed at the point of sale. The score would also be available via a website where consumers could see the scores for all the businesses in the local area.

While the idea was that this would encourage businesses to raise their hygiene standards, some concerns have been raised that consumers would simply boycott outlets with lower scores. Consequently, local authorities would have difficulty obtaining business co-operation to display score certificates on their premises.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King, giving the recent Society of Food Hygiene and Technology annual lecture, said: “We have real concerns … I am concerned about the confusion surrounding ‘scores on the doors’ and the inconsistency involved in marking.”

King added: “I do not​ support regulation that fails to account for the realities of consumer behaviour, does not allow industry to respond quickly to the market, or creates an unlevel playing field.”

After consultation, the UK food industry, plus enforcement bodies and consumers in Scotland, supported the adoption of a two-tier ‘pass/improvement required’ approach. Enforcement bodies and consumers across the rest of the UK favoured multi-tiered schemes (most supporting a six-tier option) using stars.

Industry is generally against using a star rating. While the food industry also wants to have some mechanism for appealing against scores and re-inspection, a number of local authorities are vehemently against this.