As a catering establishment owner you will have had a visit from your local EHO to do a food hygiene inspection, if you are the proud owner of 5 stars from one of these visits then you will be more than happy to put the resulting sticker in a prominent position in your establishment.

If you run a business in Wales then you are legally obliged to display your sticker. If you’re outside Wales then although you don’t need to display your sticker you can guarantee that more and more of your customers will be checking what rating you are. There is a food hygiene app for your smartphone where you can search for the rating of any catering establishment, so don’t think just by not putting up your sticker that your customers, or potential customers, won’t know your food hygiene rating.

Many people now are getting more and more aware of the importance of food hygiene rating in catering establishments and a lot of people won’t even visit the establishment that is less than five stars.

Of course big organisations have teams of people that do nothing else but audit and check and ensure legal compliance, for a small independent business it’s much harder to do yourself. It is very possible for a small independent business to achieve five-star rating it just needs the owner to have a number things in place

The environmental health officer will look at three things in their report they check

How hygienically the food was handled how it is prepared cooked reheated cooled and stored
The condition of the structure of the building is the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
How the business managers what it does to make sure food is safe and so that the officer can be confident standards will be maintained in the future

Hygiene standards found at the time of inspection and then rated on a scale the bottom of the scale of zero this means urgent improvements required I’m at the top of the scale five stars means the hygiene standards are very good.

So what do you need to do to get a five-star rating?

In practice if this means that you need to show the officer that you are running a well managed business by having the correct procedures in place and accurate records to show that those procedures are being completed correctly. For example staff training records are available and signed up-to-date, all staff that need to have completed food hygiene training, food temperature checks and refrigeration temperature checks are being completed, Records of cleaning and defrosting fridges are available. The officer will check that the Records match the reality of the situation so the records should show natural variations in temperatures of fridges for example, rather than jest 5° every day of the year.

They will also check the physical condition of the building, are all surfaces easily cleaned, other any gaps in the doors with vermin can get in, is food stored in the right environment, is there sufficient lighting?

Probably the most important aspect is the confidence in the management of the establishment, does the person who is showing them around have an understanding of the above and shows confidence that they are able to fix any issues quickly.

So in summary you need to consider the following

You have the correct policies and procedures in place
These policies and procedures are being correctly recorded
The records match the reality
The fabric of the building, and the equipment is in good condition,
The person on duty Is competent and Confident In the running of the business.

At cafe success we are able to provide you with everything you need to get a five-star food hygiene rating.

Our ‘done for you service’ will supply every routine , process and policy for you to get the 5 star rating

The 5* Score On Your Door

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01235 507100