How To Get A 5* Rating On The Food Hygiene Rating System -

When a Food Safety Officer inspects a food business and awards a Food Hygiene Rating Score they take three factors into account.

1.      Hygiene standards – which cover cross contamination risk, temperature control and monitoring, personal hygiene and stock rotation.

2.      Structural standards – which cover cleanliness, layout and how it impacts on the risk of cross contamination, condition of structure, lighting ventilation, hand washing facilities, equipment and food washing facilities, drainage, pest control, hot water supply and waste disposal.

3.      Confidence in Management – which takes into account training or supervision of staff, track record of business, attitude of management toward hygiene and food safety, understanding of significant hazards and controls and having in place satisfactory documented food safety management procedures based on HACCP principles.

As can be seen, having in place a documented food safety management system, which is understood by all food handlers with monitoring sheets which are kept up to date is a key component of the Confidence in Management score. If you do not have such a documented system then the likelihood is that the highest FHRS you will achieve, even if everything else is in order is a score of 1, the definition of which is “Major Improvement Necessary”

If you are a new businesses and you have introduced a documented food safety management system but are still developing it or working towards full compliance, then you might manage to scrape a score of 4 (definition “Good”) but once again, only if everything else is in order. It should be noted however, that the allowance of” breathing space” afforded to new businesses, who are working towards full compliance can only be given once and should the documented system still not be considered satisfactory at the next inspection, then the business would automatically be dropped down to a score of no higher than 1.

Food hygiene ratings scores are openly available to the public as they are published on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website. Diners are becoming more aware of the scheme and it can affect their dining choices. They are actively encouraged by the FSA to investigate a restaurants rating before they decide whether to book a table. There is also a proposal to make displaying the score mandatory throughout the UK as it is in Wales.

It makes sense to aim for a top score of 5 as soon as you start trading and then throughout your trading future. The proper use of Our Kitchen Rules should assist you in achieving a high level of compliance with a resultant score of 5 the definition of which is “Very Good”.

More information on how the FHRS works is available here on pages 21 to 34 :-

http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/enforcement/fhrsguidance.pdf

You can order a copy Of Our Kitchen Rules by emailing artisanfood.angel@gmail.com

The Dawn of HACCP in the UK and the Subsequent Deveolpment of the FSA Safer Food Better Business System

The requirement for a food business to ensure that they operate their food business in a hygienic manner, following the principles of the hazard analysis and critical control point system (HACCP) has been around for approximately 20 years.

It first came to the fore in the UK as a result of the European Economic Community Council Directive 93/43/EEC published on 14 June 1993 which stated:-

"Article 3 1. The preparation, processing, manufacturing, packaging, storing, transportation, distribution, handling and offering for sale or supply of foodstuffs shall be carried out in a hygienic way. 2. Food business operators shall identify any step in their activities which is critical to ensuring food safety and ensure that adequate safety procedures are identified, implemented, maintained and reviewed on the basis of the following principles, used to develop the system of HACCP (Hazard analysis and critical control points): - analysing the potential food hazards in a food business operation, - identifying the points in those operations where food hazards may occur, - deciding which of the points identified are critical to food safety - the 'critical points', - identifying and implementing effective control and monitoring procedures at those critical points, and - reviewing the analysis of food hazards, the critical control points and the control and monitoring procedures periodically and whenever the food business operations change.

This Directive was later followed by Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 which introduced the further requirement for food businesses to establish documents and records which demonstrate the effective application of these controls.

Consequently the requirement for all business operators to have a Documented Food Safety Management System based on HACCP principles became a legal requirement on 01 January 2006.

In response to this, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) produced the Safer Food Better Business(SFBB) manual with the intention of easing the burden on small businesses.

For many years the pack was supplied via a food businesses Local Authority Food Safety Officer, then it changed and a food business had to order it direct from the FSA. Now, following all the austerity cuts, food businesses have to download the manual themselves which can involve costly printing costs if they wish to keep it as a hard copy.

We have developed an easy to use alternative to SFBB entitled:-

"Our Kitchen Rules" 

It covers all the potential hazards that can exist or occur during the preparation, handling and service of food and suggests simple rules that can be followed that will guarantee to eliminate or reduce any risk to acceptable levels. 

The rules are not arduous and are mainly procedures that you already follow in the day to day running of your food business. They are backed up by world wide government guidance on the safe handling of food.

The simplistic logo of "Our Kitchen Rules" is an indication of how easy they are to follow.

Copies are available to purchase by emailing 

artisanfood.angel@gmail.com