Would you eat at a restaurant or from a takeaway with a Food Hygiene Rating of three or fewer?
What does the rating imply to you? Dirty kitchens? Maybe the odd cockroach hanging around? It’s not an appealing thought, is it?
Truth is, if you work in the catering game, you know you must display your rating by law.
The NFU Mutual Food Hygiene Rating Report found that 44% of people would turn away from a food establishment that displayed a rating of three or fewer and a huge 38% of people said that, if a favourite food outlet scored three or fewer, they’d stop visiting altogether.
Part of keeping your food-hygiene score high is keeping your kitchen clean. But we all know how hard that can be.
The grease problem
The problem is grease. It gets into the duct and coats it. Duct cleaning can also cost you £1500. And if it catches fire, your whole ventilation duct can go up. That will stop you trading in a heartbeat.
Complying with regs is also tough. And you need a yearly TR19 inspection, or your insurance is invalid. You also need a high Food Hygiene Rating if you want people to eat and recommend your food.
Here at Plasma Clean, we’re ventilation experts in the commercial kitchen market. We’ve been asked a lot of questions about the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme over the years and how we can help.
What is the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme?
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is run by your local authority together with the Food Standards Agency (FSA). It’s like an MoT for your food outlet.
The scheme gives consumers a snapshot idea about hygiene standards on your premises when they were inspected by food-safety officers. Their inspections check you’re complying with legal requirements and a rating from one to five reflects the findings.
The idea is to give the public the chance to make informed choices about where they eat out. This should encourage businesses to improve their hygiene standards.
As part of the scheme, the FSA has announced that the ratings must be displayed in your outlet. This should mean fewer ‘poorly compliant’ businesses.
Improving your hygiene standards should mean less food-borne illness. But does it apply to you?
Well, yes, if you supply food directly to customers. This includes restaurants, cafes, takeaways, food retailers, and any other place where people eat food prepared outside of the home.
What are Environmental Health Officers looking for?
The good news is that your business should be able to achieve the top rating. You just need to know what EHOs (Environmental Health Officers) are looking for.
EHOs give food premises a rating based on the physical condition of the premises and facilities as part of the criteria.
Food Hygiene Ratings assess:
- Hygienic food handling
- How food is stored
- How food is prepared
- Cleanliness of facilities
- How food safety is managed
They’ll also check compliance with structural requirements, cleanliness and the condition of your facilities and building (including the layout, ventilation, handwashing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene. It’s your responsibility to comply with food-hygiene law at all times.
Things to consider:
- Extractor fans are in proper working order
- Storage rooms are cool, well-lit and ventilated
- Safe cleaning procedures are established and followed
Want a 5-star Food Hygiene rating?
We can help you secure that vital five-star rating.
Here at Plasma Clean, our unique air-filtration and purification systems can reduce grease, help with Food Hygiene Ratings, and save you thousands on duct cleaning and kitchen shutdowns.
We specialise in the design, manufacture and supply of high-quality commercial kitchen ventilation grease, smoke and odour control.
We also provide consultancy services across a wide range of clean-air and surface-disinfection applications. This goes beyond our own product range, giving you a knowledgeable source of advice no matter what your particular environment and problem.
Just answer 5 simple questions
To find out exactly what kind of help you need in your kitchen, simply answer these five easy questions. This will help us offer you the best solution for cleaner facility and boost your chances of a higher Food Hygiene Rating.
We’ll get back to you with a professional response within 24 hours.
Any more questions about how we can help with Food Hygiene?
Chat to us today about how we can control grease, eliminate odours and save you serious money on duct cleaning. Call us on (0)161 870 2325 or email us: [email protected]
