New hygiene scheme opens doors for consumers

Wednesday 25 October 2006

Ref: 20/06

Scottish consumers will soon be able to see how well food businesses in their area have fared in hygiene inspections under a two-year pilot scheme to be launched on 6 November.

The Food Hygiene Information Scheme is being run in Perth and parts of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Fife and Renfrewshire, and applies to all premises supplying food to the public in those areas.

It was developed and implemented in Scotland by the Food Standards Agency Scotland with the support of consumer organisations, industry and local authorities.

Around 3,000 establishments are taking part in the pilot and from the launch date they will be asked to display certificates prominently on the door or window of their premises, showing how well they did in their last hygiene inspection.

These certificates, based on current inspection records will say 'Pass' or 'Improvement Required'. An 'Awaiting Inspection' certificate will be available for new businesses.

George Paterson, Director, FSA Scotland said: 'This scheme is designed to give consumers clear information that is easy to understand and which helps them make informed choices about the hygiene standards in the outlets in their area.

'Our Scottish Consumer Attitudes Survey 2005 showed that many people were concerned about hygiene in food outlets, as such it makes sense for businesses to put customers and food hygiene at the top of their agenda. The more confident customers are in a business� food hygiene, the more likely they are to come back!

'We hope this new scheme will increase consumer confidence and help people make informed choices about where they eat or buy their food.'

Discussions with stakeholders and Freedom of Information legislation have prompted the Agency to consider developing a UK-wide initiative. Two pilots will also run in England. All three will be evaluated in due course.

Notes for editors

1. Additional quotes -

Mary Lawton, Policy Manager, Scottish Consumer Council said: 'The Scottish Consumer Council has actively campaigned for just such a scheme, based on the findings of its own consumer research.

'We have been fully engaged in the development of the pilot in Scotland and strongly believe that it will be a major step towards better consumer choice and greater transparency of the enforcement process.

'SCC considers that the scheme will also help to maintain consumer confidence and benefit consumers by ensuring that a very high proportion of businesses maintain compliance.'

Julia Clarke, Which?, said: 'Which? Research clearly shows people want to know how hygienic their local take-away or restaurant is. We�ve been calling for this for many years so we welcome the decision by the Scottish councils to take this important step forward.

'This new pilot scheme will help drive up hygiene standards, people will be able to make informed choices and will therefore be able to eat out in confidence without risking their health.'

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New hygiene scheme opens doors for consumers

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