food hygiene - scores on the doors

[lifeafterthebigsmoke]

I tend to check the score before I eat somewhere but I'm often mystified by this 'Scores on the Doors' system. What do the ratings actually mean? Lots of local kebab takeaways have a high rating - 4 or 5 - and more plush places only get a 3. Lots of popular places have 2 or 3, even 1! How are places with a 1 even allowed to continue trading?! What's the minimum you'd look for? Thanks!

[Doilooklikeatourist]

It's a con ! Anything over a 3 is fine
I have a cafe , 3 rating
I would be able to get a better grading if I paid £150 , so the EHO would come and regrade me ( which would give me time to falsify my paperwork do all the ticks in my my file and make up take my fridge temperatures twice a day and fill in my charts
But id rather spend my time keeping my food lovely and freshly cooked , locally produced ,
Keep food lfresh , kitchens clean , busy , lots to do yes ,
Paperwork , way down the list of prioritys
Have a look around , does it look good to you ?
Then it will be fine

[foodandhygiene]

The idea of the scoring system is to give customers a more informed choice when eating out. The higher the score the safer the food should be. As another person as already said, a score of 3 is adequate but surely it is in the business's best interest to have the highest score possible and use it to increase sales.
No one should need to falsify records, its about keeping the right records for your business and each food business is different, it doesn't need to be complicated or time consuming.
These records could be the only defence a business has to prove they kept the food safe in the case of a serious complaint. Especially as the government are looking at increasing potential fines for breaches with food safety and health and safety from £5,000 to at least £20,000.