CPD – Improve Your Food Hygiene Rating

As human beings, we often find ourselves buying food, either from street vendors or restaurants. Oftentimes, you bought it just because you wanted it. Not realising there is something important you have to be aware of before eating the food. It is the food hygiene rating system (FHRS).

This rating is to evaluate and display how clean the food is. If you have a food business, this matters a lot. The rating will help your customers know how clean your product is. Moreover, it encourages businesses to maintain high sanitation for their food. Many countries, including the UK, are using this rating.

What is a food hygiene rating?

Food hygiene rating is a system that assesses and scores the hygiene standards of a food business. To gain this rating, a food safety officer from the local authority needs to inspect it. The way it works, they will do an inspection of the premises, the process of the food handling and preparation, and the overall system involved in its food operations. Usually, they use a system rating with a range of 0-5, with zero being the lowest and five being the highest.

Every food business, such as restaurants, cafes, caterers, food manufacturers, and food retailers, should utilise this rating. This will ensure the business provides a safe and quality meal. This is also going to be beneficial for the customers, too. They can use the FHRS as a tool to help them identify food sellers with better hygiene.

On the other hand, this is also a vital guideline for the government. They are using this rating scheme to see if a food business follows food sanitation laws or not. If it turns out the business has a poor food hygiene rating, the officer can act to ensure customers' safety and health. They can stop or prohibit the business from operating until it is safe to reopen.

Course Description

The CPD – Improve Your Food Hygiene Rating course will help the participants ensure they get good ratings for their businesses. There are several things for participants to be aware of, such as food handling, cleanliness, structure and facilities, and also food safety management. The outcome of this course is:

• Understand food safety principles
• Knowledge of hygiene practises
• Implement food safety laws and regulations
• Risk assessment and prevention

The participants will gain knowledge to ensure the cleanliness of the foods. So they don’t have to worry about getting a negative evaluation from the inspection. On the other hand, this will be beneficial for the customers because they can assess the business from the rating. A better rating could attract more customers.

Curriculum Outline

This programme will help the participants understand the food hygiene rating more. It covers food safety principles, hygiene practise, food safety laws and regulations, and risk assessment. This is important to build a professional and long-lasting business in the industry. From this course, the participants will learn about:

1. The Food Hygiene Rating scheme
2. Physical conditions of the business
3. Hygienic food handling

The participants will get the opportunity to know how the food hygiene rating works so they will get the best results from the assessment. Also, it will create a healthy and safe environment for customers and employees. In this course, the participants will do various demonstrations, interactive questions, and activities. The CCM ensures that the participants will get the best course by working together with professionals and experts in this area.

Admission Criteria

The CPD – Improve Your Food Hygiene Rating course is available for everyone who is interested in improving food hygiene. However, this course is recommended for business owners, kitchen staff, food servers, and caterers. This is because food handlers work directly with food. So they can acquire extensive knowledge and skills about food hygiene in their workplace.

How does food hygiene rating work for your business?

In the UK, the food hygiene rating system uses a 0 to 5 scale where the higher points reflect the quality of sanitation procedures a business utilises. Otherwise, the result will be lower because of the concerns caused by poor hygiene practises. If the inspector finds the business is too concerning, then they have the right to stop or prohibit it from running. Here’s a quick overview of how the rating scheme works:

• FHR 0: Urgent improvement necessary. There are food hygiene issues that can put public health at risk
• FHR 1: Major improvement necessary. Some areas need immediate action and improvement
• FHR 2: Improvement necessary
• FHR 3: Generally satisfactory. There are some areas needing improvement, but those areas generally don’t pose immediate health risks
• FHR 4: Good. A few areas need improvement
• FHR 5: Very good. Displays and practise excellent hygiene standards

Impact of the Food Hygiene Rating System

The food hygiene rating system has a significant impact on your food business. The rating will set the business’ standard to the highest. It can influence reputation, customer trust, regulatory compliance, and overall success. This is why the rating system is crucial to your business. Here are several reasons why you should follow the FHRS:

Customer trust and reputation

Having great customer trust and reputation is not only based on how good the food is. But it needs proper food sanitation, too. A food business with positive ratings (rated 4 or 5) will attract more customers and also build loyalty and trust. It is a sign that the business maintains high hygiene standards and values the safety of the consumers.

However, a negative food hygiene rating (rated 0, 1, or 2) can damage the business reputation. This will lead to losing customers’ trust, decreasing the visits to your business. There are health risks lingering for the consumer. Especially in this modern era, negative word-of-mouth can spread quickly with online reviews and social media. That is why maintaining a high standard is a must for the food business.

Legal and regulatory compliance

The UK government implemented a food hygiene rating system in late 2008, where it applies across Wales, Northern Ireland, and England. This guideline will help the food industry to have a better benchmark. Those requirements include how the food is prepared, cooked, served, or sold. So, it is going to be safe for human consumption.

Risk management

No one really wants to eat in a food business with a negative food hygiene rating because it increases the chances of foodborne illness outbreaks. This can lead to lawsuits, insurance claims, and irreparable damage to the business’s reputation. Also, the government can make you pay penalties and face the court. Furthermore, they can stop or even close your business for poor quality and hygiene.

Have a better food hygiene rating with the College of Contract Management

Your business may have good food, but it will not matter if you have a bad food hygiene rating. This system applies to restaurants, cafes, and food manufacturers. FHRS evaluates the food hygiene standards and assigns a rating from 0 to 5. The bigger the number, the better your food hygiene is. Otherwise, it means you have bad food hygiene.

The FHRS have many uses for food businesses. It can build customer trust and reputation to attract more customers and create loyalty. However, poor ratings can damage reputation and reduce customers’ trust, which can lead to financial losses. Furthermore, it increases the risk of facing legal penalties or even business closures.

In conclusion, having a high rating offers you plenty of benefits. In doing so, you need to understand how the system works. The College of Contract Management can help you with their CPD – Improve Your Food Hygiene Rating course. With the help of professionals and experts, the quality of the course is ensured. Increase your business’ growth in the food industry today with the best quality products.

The CPD – Improve Your Food Hygiene Rating course will be ready along with the lecturer’s schedule and the course learning material. Any updates will be shared according to the live session schedule. If you have any questions you want to ask, we encourage you to email the CCM team or use the live chat feature during the lecture. We are glad to help you with any problems.