EVERY restaurant in Britain could get a hygiene rating in a new bid to cut cases of food poisoning.
EVERY restaurant in Britain could get a hygiene rating in a new bid to cut cases of food poisoning.
A new scheme aims to give stars or points to every eating place, from fast-food premises to restauraunts run by top chefs such as Gordon Ramsay.
Under the "scores on the doors" initiative planned by the Foods Standards Agency, customers will be able to check up on the internet on everything from mice droppings to cookers caked in grease.
Half of food poisoning cases in Britain occur from eating out and many of the rest from hospitals, care homes and schools.
FSA chairman Dame Deirdre Hutton said today: "Five hundred people a year are still dying of food poisoning. It is quite a significant figure.
"We have set ourselves a target to reduce food-borne illnesses by 20%, and in 18 months we have achieved 19.2%.
"But if you take your eye off the ball you can get significant illness and death."
The initiative aims to make public the results of inspections by local authority enforcement officers.
In most areas people can only discover the truth about their favourite eating places by making an application under freedom of information laws.
It is intended that a single website will contain the details of every restaurant and cafe's kitchen hygiene record.
A formal pilot programme supervised by the FSA is to start in the new year and a nationwide system is to be approved within a year.
The initial trial will cover every restaurant in London, Coventry, Derby, Hull, Leicester, Stoke and Nottingham.
There are separate pilot schemes in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Swansea and Belfast.
Following the pilots, which will use stars and points, it will be decided which ratings systems to use for the national project.
Once the hygiene scores are established, restaurants may then also be graded for the nutritional value of food on the menu.
The move comes after a separate hygiene initiative was recently launched in Renfrewshire.
Restaurants, cafes and takeaways have been asked to display certificates prominently on the door or window of their premises showing how well they did in their last hygiene inspection.
It will cover Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone town centres, Glasgow Airport, Braehead and Xscape.
George Paterson, FSA director in Scotland, said: "This scheme is designed to give clear information that is easy to understand, and helps diners make informed choices about hygiene standards in the outlets in their area."
