In November 2013, Wales implemented a policy stipulating that food premises must publicly display their food hygiene rating. This has already resulted in great improvements in food safety management. But still, in Wales:
– 59 food providers score zero on the FSA scale (meaning urgent improvement necessary).
– 664 score one (meaning major improvement necessary).
– Of these, 11 premises scoring zero, and 104 scoring one, are based in the Cardiff area.*
Looking at figures on a wider geographic scale, failure to comply with food hygiene regulations appears still to be more of an issue. New research has revealed that one in seven takeaways and one in thirteen restaurants in the UK have failed food hygiene inspections.* Due to uncleanliness and substandard procedures, these businesses have failed to gain a pass on the Food Standards Agency’s hygiene rating scale. This scale ranges from zero to five – scoring between zero and two constitutes a fail, while scoring between three and five constitutes a pass.
With nearly 30,000 out of approximately 460,000 businesses failing inspections in the UK, it is clear that we need greater recognition of the importance of adhering to food hygiene regulations, and of receiving food hygiene training.
If your business produces, serves, or sells food in any shape or form, be it a restaurant, corner shop, hotel, or an educational establishment like a school, college, or playgroup, it must be compliant with food hygiene standards. Not only is practising good food hygiene important from a legal perspective, it also crucially prevents damaging both the health of your customers and the reputation of your business. And with your food hygiene rating being publicly displayed, in-store and/or online, a good score means a better image for your business.
As an employer, it is your legal responsibility to ensure that your staff undertake food hygiene training. And with so much at stake, it is easy to see why training is essential.
Ajuda offers high-quality, informative food hygiene training courses throughout the year. With our Level 2 Award in Food Hygiene course, which is next running on the 18th October, you can be sure to gain all the knowledge about food hygiene that your business needs to ensure good practice.
Book here at https://www.ajuda.org.uk/training/food-hygiene/, or call us on 029 2057 6883.
*Food hygiene rating statistics for Wales and Cardiff: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/, 5/10/16. You can search for the food
hygiene scores of premises in your local authority via this website.
*Statistics regarding the failure of food hygiene inspections by UK businesses:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/23/revealed-uk-takeaways-fail-food-hygiene-tests-restaurants-takeaways.