All food premises in England should be forced to display “scores on the doors” ratings following Brexit to improve hygiene standards, councils have said.
The Local Government Association said EU laws regulating food safety should be kept after Britain leaves the bloc, but has called on the government to use the opportunity to strengthen them and make the display of hygiene ratings mandatory in England.
Council environmental health teams score food outlets from zero to five based on factors such as kitchen cleanliness, cooking methods and food management.
Businesses in Wales and Northern Ireland are legally required to display their rating, but this is not the case in England, where those scoring low marks are less likely to put them on show to customers.
The LGA said businesses including restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, sandwich shops, supermarkets and delicatessens that failed to comply should be fined or prosecuted.
Simon Blackburn of the LGA said: “The conversion of EU law as part of Brexit will impact on many council services that affect people’s day-to-day lives, including how to protect people from being served unsafe food.
“The post-Brexit review of EU laws gives the government choices. We believe that food hygiene laws need to be strengthened, where necessary, with ‘scores on the doors’ ratings being a good area of opportunity to do this.
“With mandatory hygiene rating display already in force in Wales and Northern Ireland, the UK leaving the EU provides a crucial opportunity to toughen up food safety laws by extending the legislation to England as well. Food hygiene standards and compliance levels have risen since the scheme was introduced in Wales.”
The LGA said councils had seen shocking examples of poor or dangerous hygiene, and always took action to improve standards at rogue premises.
“Making the display of hygiene ratings compulsory in England is good for business,” Blackburn said. “Not only would it incentivise food outlets to improve or maintain high hygiene standards, which would reduce the risk of illness for customers, it would also improve consumer confidence and save taxpayers’ money by reducing the need for, and cost of, enforcement action by councils.”
Guardian analysis revealed last year that one in 13 restaurants and one in seven takeaways in the UK had failed food hygiene inspections because they were dirty or had poor procedures.
Examination of the food hygiene reports for more than 460,000 businesses found that almost 30,000 – or 6.4% – had failed their inspections, including more than 7,000 takeaways and 8,000 restaurants.
The Food Standards Agency data also reveals major food safety problems in some areas of the country, with some local authorities failing more than 20% of food establishments and about 50% of takeaways and sandwich shops.
The FSA ranks all food providers with a score of zero to five. A zero rating signifies that the establishment urgently requires improvement. About 1,400 businesses currently have this score. Between zero and two is considered a failing grade, and three to five is satisfactory.
The ratings criteria are the same across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and each local authority is responsible for ranking food providers within its boundaries. Scotland uses a different system, awarding a grade of “pass and eat” to premises that exceed legal requirements of hygiene, “pass” to those that are broadly compliant, or “improvement required”.
The analysis revealed huge disparities in hygiene levels around the country, with some local authorities failing large numbers of food establishments and others only a handful.
