FOOD HYGIENE RATING SCHEME

Ards and North Down Borough Councils have introduced a Food Hygiene Rating scheme to provide members of the public with information on the food hygiene standards of food businesses across both areas.

A star system - where 5 stars is excellent and no stars is poor - is used to rate each food premises' hygiene standards and the rating is based on information gathered during routine food hygiene inspections carried out by Environmental Health Officers since September 2008. Ratings are determined using the risk scoring methods contained within the Food Standard Agency's (FSA) Food Law Code Of Practice and are subject to consistency review.

Any business which has not been inspected since September 2008 will not have an assessed hygiene score until after the next programmed inspection. Their details and hygiene score will be added to the scheme within one month of the date of inspection and until then, they are described as 'not yet rated'.

All food premises are included in this scheme except for:

• Child minders operating from their own homes, and
• Very low risk premises that are subject to alternative enforcement methods (indicated on the document by "AES").

Businesses are under no obligation to display their star rating publicly in their premises, but the Councils will supply a certificate to them if they wish to do so.

The scheme in Ards and North Down is being introduced in adavance of the national initiative from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which is likely to become operational after April 2010. It means that both Councils can provide information uniformly on all food businesses in a way that is clear, fair to businesses and easily understood by the public. The joint approach recognises that food businesses in the two Boroughs operate within the same community and facilitates consistency in the release of information.

In order to access the information on food hygiene standards in Ards.
Click here to view the Food Hygiene Ratings for Ards.

To view information on food hygiene standards in the North Down Borough Council area go to http://www.northdown.gov.uk/template1.asp?pid=914&area=7

For further information on the operation of the Scheme and the scoring system, click here

To download an application form for a food business to be re-scored, click here .