Mandatory display of stickers in England now paused, as FSA have been presented with a revised set of priorities by the Government, not least of which the massive task of revising all EU-based food legislation by the end of 2023.

Although it had previously announced that timescales to progress compulsory display of FHRS stickers in England would only be reviewed after mid 2023, work to prepare the consultation exercise and draft bill has also been put on pause, due to these priorities, with no firm dates currently set for them to resume.

If we look at some of the estimates in the reverse timetable below, you can get an idea of likely timescales once work resumes:

Expect physical Scores on the Doors to be some years away.

Deliveroo Australia went into adminstration on Wednesday and ceased all opertations in that country with immediate effect. Thought to be as a resut of falling spend due to economic conditons, this move follows recent closure of operations in Germany, Taiwan, Spain and the Netherlands.

Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo have been insisting their ‘partner’ organsiations (ie take-aways operators) are registered as food business and meet a minimum star rating for over a year now, and the FSA is in the process of finalising a formal charter to commit them to these standards. Until recently, Just Eat have insisted on a minimum level of 3 stars, although Deliveroo and Uber only required two. The platforms will display the rating alongside menu and other partner information. How long will it be before Tripadvisor and Open Table provide the same?

Full details of the charter have yet to be released.

The National Food Crime Unit has launched a tool to help businesses assess their processes, obtain advice and evaluate risk of food fraud. The tool is completely anonymous and should take around 15 minutes to complete.

Few are aware that France also has a scheme for publishing Food Inspection scores. It rates food businesses on a 4 point smiley face scale with details being available both on-line and via an app https://www.alim-confiance.gouv.fr/

In one of the worst cases we have seen, the owner of a Swindon take-away has been banned for operating a food business for life. When tackled about the cockroach infection, he was quoted as having responded that cockroaches are treated as food in some countries.

https://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/23135904.owner-cockroach-infested-restaurant-given-ban-court/

Visitors to Berlin will soon be able to check out Scores on the Doors both on-line and via compulsory display of window stickers. More details to follow.

“Food Safety is important. But I’m a restaurant critic, not a health officer”

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/oct/13/food-safety-is-important-but-im-a-restaurant-critic-not-a-health-officer

Amazing to see that Iowa will increase the period between inspections to 5 years:

https://b100quadcities.com/iowa-is-about-to-cut-way-back-on-restaurant-inspections/

We are sorry to see that legislation to enable compulsory display of FHRS stickers in England has been delayed again. Here is the text from the Chief Executive’s statement at last week’s board meeting:

“The Board will know that it has long been our ambition to align England with Wales and Northern Ireland on the mandatory display of hygiene ratings. It is a simple measure that will make a difference without imposing costs on businesses, help consumers make informed choices, recognise food businesses doing the right thing and be better for public health and for the public purse by reducing costs associated with food borne illnesses. We had strong support from a wide range of stakeholders and were hoping that the proposal would be included in the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) Health Disparities White Paper. Unfortunately, since that White Paper was delayed following the previous Prime Minister’s resignation, we have not yet been able to proceed to a consultation and have had to conclude that we cannot bid for legislation in the coming Parliamentary session. We will explore with DHSC whether we can include our bid in the next round, in summer next year.”