Issue
Food poisoning is a serious public health issue, with hundreds of thousands of cases every year in the UK.
The CIEH believes more can be done to reduce this figure and supports the introduction of a preferred national "Scores on Doors" rating scheme , which would allow food businesses to display the results of food inspections at their premises, and in addition, display this information on the web. This scheme would give consumers the information they need to differentiate between premises that follow good procedures and those that do not.
Similar schemes have been adopted in the United States and in some countries in Europe, where they have been welcomed by consumers and regulators. A recent study by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services revealed that restaurant grading systems were effective in reducing food-borne illnesses.
What the CIEH is doing
- We launched a public relations campaign back in 2004, attracting significant media attention as well interest from a variety of stakeholders including the Food Standards Agency and HM Treasury.The matter was debated at our annual conference and following this, a number of local authorities started to publish hygiene reports.
- We worked through our policy officers to consider implementation of a national Scores on the Doors scheme and through the London Regional Policy Officer, chaired the working group of the London scheme
Results
- Following lobbying by the CIEH and others, the Food Standards Agency is supporting two pilot projects for Scores on the Doors, one in London and one in the East Midlands.
- The FSA has commissioned a national evaluation of the schemes already in operation (including the two supported pilots) which will report back to their Board by March 2008. The CIEH supports the identification of a single preferred scheme which could be used nationally.
- Links to the current schemes in operation can be found on the Food Standards Agency website.