Food Hygiene Rating Schemes (FHRS) are run by local authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and apply to restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets and other food outlets.
Food safety offices periodically attend and rate businesses on their compliance with food hygiene legislation and specifically look at:
· How hygienically food is handled , prepared, cooked, re-heated and stored
· The cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities of the premises
· How records are managed to ensure food is safe.
At the end of an inspection, the food outlet is given a rating from 0-5, with 5 meaning the business was found to have ‘very good’ hygiene standards. If premises are given any less than 5, the inspector will make recommendations for improvement. If conditions are found to constitute a serious beach, the inspector may request a follow up inspection and in the case of a serious breach, the inspector may close the premises if it is deemed to pose a serious threat to the health and safety of the general public.
Food ratings are freely available on the public domain giving consumers a measure and insight into the to the true cleanliness of their local eateries and allow them to make decisions on where or where not to eat. As such not only does the scheme encourage businesses to improve hygiene standards, it’s also has a serious impact on trade and reputation if a food outlet has a consistently low rating.
If you are a food serving business that has received a lower than expected rating, all is not lost as councils can at the request of the management of such businesses perform follow up interim inspections to allow owners to demonstrate improvements have been made without them having to wait a further 12 months.
Wilkes Cleanings Services have a dedicated kitchen clean unit with a wealth of experience in helping food outlets across Yorkshire improve their food hygiene ratings. Whether it be through our daily before and after service cleaning programs or our specialist kitchen deep cleans, we have the skills and expertise to improve your rating and increase covers.
Our fully trained, uniformed and health and safety accredited operates use pioneering techniques approved by the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICS) including full strip downs of cleaning apparatus employing acid bath degreasing techniques and high pressure steam cleaning guaranteed to improve the cleanliness of any commercial kitchen and dining environment.
Our operates are also adept at stripping down and de-creasing venting and extraction systems, a 6 monthly requirement of most councils and insurers.
For further information or to arrange a no obligation appraisal and quotation, please call the team on 01924 416816.