'Eat Safe' Scheme: Compulsory Display of Rating: Law drafting instructions

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A decision made 17 June 2017:

Decision reference: MD-HSS-2017-0060
Decision summary title: Display of ‘Eat Safe’ hygiene score at food premises
Decision summary author:	Director of Environmental Health	Is the decision summary public or exempt?		Public (15 June 2017)
Report title: Order to require the display of Eat Safe ratings at a food business
Report author or name of person giving report:	Director of Environmental Health	Is the report public or exempt?		Public (15 June 2017)
Decision and reason for the decision Decision: The Minister directed officials to submit law drafting instructions to the Law Draftsman for the preparation of a new Order requiring the display of Eat Safe ratings at food businesses. Reason: The Minister, having discussed with his officials, agreed the importance of providing the public with a visual indication of the hygiene standards within a premises at the point of entering that business. Whilst the voluntary scheme has had significant impact on the hygiene standards of food businesses, a legal requirement to display scores will provide further incentive for improvement, and give additional information to the public, better to allow informed choice.
Resource implications The administration required to provide stickers and certificates to those businesses that require them will be met within existing resources within the Environmental Health team. Businesses wishing to receive a new inspection can request this using the online forms already available at www.gov.je/eatsafe.
Action required: Official to send the law drafting instructions to the Law Draftsman.
Signature			Position
Date signed:			Date of Decision (if different from date signed)

'Eat Safe' Scheme: Compulsory Display of Rating: Law drafting instructions

States of Jersey

Health and Social Services Department

Ministerial Decision: Display of Eat Safe hygiene score at food business premises

Background

The Eat Safe food hygiene information scheme was first introduced in October 2014. It provided a calculated baseline for businesses focussing on three elements of how food hygiene and safety is managed within the business:

Confidence in management
Structure and cleanliness
Food hygiene / safety processes

For the first time the display of a hygiene score brought the events and practices within a kitchen to a consumer’s decision process on where to eat. This led to an immediate and rapid improvement of some of the worst performing kitchens, with the number of 0 and 2 star rated premises dropping from 49 to 6 within the four week pre-launch period. Improvement continues but at a more gradual pace.

Information about the food hygiene standard of all food businesses is available online at www.gov.je/eatsafe or via the Love Jersey APP. Food businesses attaining 3 or more stars can choose to display their rating via sticker and / or certificate at their premises. Businesses can request permission to display their rating via social media or on flyers and leaflets.

The online platform is well used and useful for local residents, however the point of entry sticker or certificate provides instant information to visitors to the Island, who may be unaware of the scheme, and consumers looking to eat without pre-arranged plans.

Market research suggests a requirement to display the Eat Safe rating at point of entry is welcomed by the majority of business owners. Environmental Health will, as always, continue to work with businesses in identifying how they can improve to achieve an improved rating.

Finally, this proposal is not unique. In Wales they introduced mandatory display of a food business’s hygiene rating. This saw their compliance standards increase to 94% of all food businesses. This compares with England, where display is not mandatory, at 93%. The advice from the Law Officer’s Department is that this can be achieved through the existing Food Safety (Jersey) Law 1966.

Recommendation

That law drafters be instructed to draft an Order under the Food Safety (Jersey) Law 1966 making it a requirement for all food businesses, unless exempt, to display their Eat Safe rating in a clearly visible manner for potential consumers.

Exemptions may include:

Home caterers
Businesses whose activity is secondary to their main activity and low risk, for example tea / coffee at a hairdressers

The Order would make it an offence to fail to display the businesses score or to incorrectly represent their score through any channel.