Scores on the Doors

In late 2008 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) introduced this 6-tier scheme called the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The scheme is now well-established including even my club; rated 5 though I have had dodgy steak tartare there twice. The raw beef/raw egg yolk combo is a recipe for an upset tummy I suppose. It is compulsory to display the rating sticker in Wales and Northern Ireland and England will surely follow soon. London as a whole comes out pretty badly:  60/68 cities listed; average rating 4. Barons Court has not helped improve the average. The corner shop scores 4 and C’est Ici cafe 3. All my other local outlets are rated 5.

So how does your local gastro pub, restaurant or takeaway fare? That’s where Scores on the Doors comes in. Use the search facility on their website to search by name or locality. It comes up with some interesting results. When I visit friends in Wales we go shopping in Llandeilo. I wonder if they use Cooper the butcher? I hope not as it scores zero. Their local pub in Trapp is not much better with only 2. Naming and shaming will surely improve standards of hygiene but at the cost of making us less resistant to bacteria probably.