It was in November 2013 when Wales became the first UK nation to have a mandatory hygiene ratings for food outlets, restaurants and takeaways. It was called as the "scores on doors". Two years since, they have driven up to the standards, the deputy health minister has said.
The inspection ratings has allowed the firms to get five-star ratings, with around 61% of the total number of firms getting such rating. It was 45% nearly two years ago. Furthermore, nearly 26,000 food businesses have been included in the ratings. This is an increase of around 4,000 since the mandatory system was launched.
"The introduction of a statutory food hygiene rating scheme has been a big success story for Wales, helping to drive up standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes and other food business right across the country. The mandatory display of the rating sticker has provided important information for consumers when deciding where to eat out or buy food. This has, in turn, played a big role in encouraging businesses to improve their food hygiene standards, Vaughan Gething, Deputy Health Minister, said.
Furthermore, "the scheme allows consumers to know what's going on behind the kitchen doors of a food business and then make a choice about whether to eat there or not. I'd urge everybody to make use of the scheme by keeping an eye out for the stickers in the windows and checking online before you book," said Nina Purcell, Director, Food Standards Agency in Wales.
As of present, 94.4 percent of the firms have a rating of three or higher, meaning they are generally satisfactory or better. On the other hand, only 0.2 percent of food businesses have a rating of zero.
It indeed has a positive impact in the city.
"Food-related businesses recognize that mandatory display of their hygiene rating will give the public an opportunity to decide whether they want to eat at their business. Our own Environmental Health Officers have also seen improvements during inspections," a Swansea council spokesman said.
The Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 made it compulsory for all food businesses to publicly display their scores following inspections.
