Thursday 19 August 2010
The Agency has today written to all local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to tell them about local launches of the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), its branding and other developments.
FHRS will help consumers choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving them information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets, and other places they eat out and buy food.
Local launches this autumn
Local launches of the FHRS are due to begin in the autumn. All 22 local authorities in Wales are planning to roll-out the scheme from 1 October. In England, ‘early adopter’ local authorities are planning to launch the scheme in the South West, and East and South East regions.
Catriona Stewart, Head of the Food Hygiene Ratings Team, said: ‘It’s a really exciting time for the scheme as things are moving on apace. We are really impressed with the enthusiasm of the "early adopters" for getting the scheme up and running and we share their commitment to making it a success. We are very pleased with the look and feel that the new branding gives to the scheme as it makes it easy for consumers to see at a glance what the hygiene rating is.’
Name and branding for scheme has been agreed
In line with the findings of independent research with consumers, the national scheme will be called the ‘Food Hygiene Rating Scheme’ and ratings will be shown on a simple numeric scale. The newly designed branding that is published today makes it easy for consumers to understand and use food hygiene ratings.
Searching for hygiene ratings online
The Agency also announced today that the IT system – including the online consumer search facility and the local authority data upload system – is now in the testing phase. The search facility will allow consumers to search for hygiene ratings of businesses in areas where the scheme is run.
The systems, which will be tested by consumers and local authorities, are expected to go live in mid-September.
For further information, see: