Plans for a new Welsh law making it compulsory for businesses to show their food hygiene ratings has been unveiled by the Welsh Government.
The Food Hygiene Ratings (Wales) bill will be introduced in the Senedd on Tuesday and is designed to provide consumers with more information about where they eat or buy food and raise food hygiene practices among businesses.
Under the scheme, businesses will be rated with a score between zero and five – with zero meaning urgent improvement is necessary and a five rating meaning hygiene standards are very good.
The rating will be based on how the food is prepared, cooked, cooled and stored, the condition of the premises and the procedures in place to ensure food safety.
If passed, the scheme will be the UK’s first compulsory scheme.
Businesses will be required to display their rating in a prominent position, such as at the entrance to their premises, or face a fine.
Health Minister Lesley Griffiths said: “The Bill will introduce a simple but effective public health measure that will empower consumers and help to improve food hygiene standards..
“Food hygiene is essential for the protection of public health. The rating scheme will help drive up standards and benefit both consumers and businesses.
“The scheme will enable consumers to make a more informed choice about where they choose to eat or shop for food, while good food hygiene means a higher rating which is good for business.”
If the Bill becomes law, it is expected that the earliest a mandatory scheme will come into operation will be late in 2013. A lead-in time will allow businesses to prepare.
The proposed new law has received the backing of Consumer Focus Wales
Liz Withers, head of policy for Consumer Focus Wales, said: “We warmly welcome the publication of this bill. We have campaigned for mandatory display on food hygiene ratings to provide better information to consumers and to help them make more informed decisions about where they chose to eat. These proposals provide a real opportunity to drive up standards in premises serving food and reduce food-borne illness.
“The over-whelming majority of people in Wales have told us they want a simple and transparent food hygiene standards system. For that to be effective there has to be mandatory display of food hygiene ratings. Under the current voluntary scheme, businesses with poor scores are hiding them away – keeping consumers in the dark. Mandatory display will give consumers the information they want, and the power to make safer choices about where they chose to eat.
“Similar mandatory schemes that run in New York and Toronto have been successful and helped to drive up standards, whilst in Los Angeles there is evidence that the introduction of a mandatory scheme resulted in a 20 per cent decrease in people being admitted to hospital with food-borne illness.
“We hope the Welsh Government’s bill will help make Wales a beacon of food safety.”