Restaurant Hygiene Scores Now Online

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Worrying results from some of Brentford's kitchens

From Michelin starred restaurants to the local café food hygiene inspection results from 80,000 of London’s eateries are now available to the public and the reports are not all good for places to eat in Brentford.

The London Scores on the doors scheme will see almost every restaurant and food outlet in the participating boroughs rated according to their latest food hygiene inspection reports, enabling consumers to make informed choices about where to eat.

Any place serving food the public is rated under a 5 star system and most establishments in the area scored pretty well. However, some places received no stars at all which suggests serious deficiencies on the day of inspection. These included the Magpie and Crown, the Six Bells and Castle Pizza. Restaurants that achieved only one star (a rating that the Food Standards Agency categorises as 'poor') included the Watermans Arms, and Fat Boys Cafe. The Weir have appealed against the one star rating that was given to them originally and have now been awarded three stars

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) supported pilot will unite a number of existing schemes in London into one consistent, consumer friendly, easy to access website: www.yourlondon.gov.uk/foodscores.

Food outlets will be rated between zero and five stars. A two star rating is defined as largely compliant with national requirements. Restaurants which fail to meet this standard are advised on how to improve and, where necessary, could be subject to enforcement action.

In addition to the website, businesses are being issued with a certificate and window sticker with their star rating on. Currently display is voluntary, but discussions are taking place to make it a legal requirement in London for a business to display its star rating.

Strong public interest in kitchen cleanliness and the desire to drive up food hygiene standards has led to the London-wide pilot, which joins funded pilots in the Midlands and Scotland.

As there are a number of different schemes in operation currently, the FSA has commissioned independent evaluation, with the aim of declaring a preferred national scheme at the earliest opportunity.

CIEH Principal Policy Officer Jenny Morris said, “The London scheme will provide an opportunity for the public to access information all in one place, and in a consistent format. Importantly, it will recognise those businesses which work hard to maintain good standards and for others it should drive improvements, which is an outcome we are all seeking”

Supported by the CIEH, the FSA, the Greater London Assembly (GLA), London Councils, the consumer group Which?, London Connects - a pan London agency delivering improved public services through the use of technology - and the Association of London Environmental Health Managers (ALEHM) the public information website can be found at: www.yourlondon.gov.uk/foodscores.

Head of Strategy and Policy Branch at the FSA, Nathan Philippo said, "The Food Standards Agency is pleased to be working with local authorities across the country to deliver scores on the doors. We see increased consumer awareness as a key tool in the future of local authority
engagement with businesses."

Participating boroughs include Ealing, Hounslow, Wandsworth, Hammersmith & Fulham and Richmond.

October 25, 2007