Scores on the doors
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A term originating in widespread public use with the TV Show The Generation Game in regards to the points scored by contestants, Scores on the doors is now more widely recognised as a term for publication or display of food hygiene inspection results.
UK scheme[]
On 1 January 2005 the UK Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations came into effect and local councils slowly began to publish the information on the ScoresontheDoors website and via certificates. However, there was no uniform grading system and many councils chose their own schemes, thus making comparison difficult. On 10 December 2008 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) board decided to approve a 6-tier scheme called the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and a 2-tier (Pass/Improvement required) Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) for Scotland. Following an agreement with FSA, in October 2011, the Scores on the Doors website aligned all their ratings to the FHRS and FHIS standards.
From November 2013 it became compulsory for food businesses in Wales to display stickers, similar legislation came into force in Northern Ireland in October 2016. FSA is introducing legislation for compulsory display of stickers in England.
The official UK government ratings website includes ratings for all UK regions and is mobile device friendly, although no app is provided. The FSA data is publicly available for download [1]
Other commercial websites and smartphone apps are also available, together with reporting and analysis software to enable businesses to performance manage their compliance and compare with their competitors. In October 2021 the Elite award was introduced by Scoresonthedoors. Similar to the original scheme introduced in Denmark, it enables people to choose where to eat, by highlighting those (consumer businesses) which have achieved three consecutive consecutive top scores.
Australia[]
In Australia, where national food safety standards are brought into force by state government statutes and enforced at the state or local level, the New South Wales Food Authority commenced a pilot program with local governments in 2010 utilising A, B and C letter grades. This was expanded to a trial in participating local government areas in 2011 utilising an equivalent system of star ratings (5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars) and an accompanying interpretive grade (Excellent, Very Good or Good) to reflect the degree of compliance with minimum food safety standards. In late 2013 the program was enhanced to encourage further take-up.
Participation in the program is voluntary. [2]
Rest of the World[]
Many other countries have now adopted similar schemes including Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and many states in USA.
References[]
External links[]
- Food safety