Recent Trading Standards spot checks carried out across 140 London restaurants found 15% of businesses were displaying false food hygiene ratings in their windows. Ratings above the level they had been awarded. While it is not a legal requirement to display a food hygiene rating in England, it is, under the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, illegal to display an incorrect rating.
Recent Trading Standards spot checks carried out across 140 London restaurants found 15% of businesses were displaying false food hygiene ratings in their windows. Ratings above the level they had been awarded. While it is not a legal requirement to display a food hygiene rating in England, it is, under the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, illegal to display an incorrect rating.
According to Trading Standards, the displaying of an incorrect rating in order to mislead the consumer or misrepresent the company standards, may constitute an offence under Trading Standards legislation. Previous examples of such offences include Veli’s Café in Drayton Park, Islington, which in 2017 with a rating of 1, was fined £2500 for displaying two level 5 food hygiene rating stickers. A Chester based takeaway also came under fire 2016, with the owner receiving a fine of £3,100 after they were discovered to be falsely displaying a rating of 5, 2 points above the level 3 the business had been awarded.
In the case of the newly discovered offending London restaurants, the findings have led to the City of London authority announcing a ‘clampdown on dishonest operators,’ and saw Trading Standards enforce the removal of the false ratings in addition the issuing of written warnings. Jeremy Simons, chair of the City Corporation’s port health and environmental services committee, said: “The rights of consumers to make informed choices about the food they eat is something we take very seriously. Where we have found restaurants being dishonest, we have acted quickly to rectify the situation. Food hygiene standards are very high in the City, with 96% of outlets having a rating of three or more. But we will continue to work with the other premises to ensure they understand the importance of upholding the best standards in their businesses.”
Angela Towers, head of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) food hygiene rating team, said: “we are pleased that the City of London Corporation has taken action against a small minority of food businesses who have sought to mislead the public.”
It perhaps comes as little surprise why businesses choose to lie about their food hygiene rating. A good Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) score has inevitably become somewhat of a marketing tool for restaurants. But, while historically it was relatively easy for food businesses to deliberately mislead the public in regards to their hygiene standards, things have since changed. Findings from the FSA’s latest consumer attitudes and behaviours survey’ found consumer awareness of the FHRS scheme has increased by 155% since 2012, with 3/5 customers now reporting to use the FSA’s online ratings checker when deciding where to eat. As a result, businesses who choose to deliberately display a score on their door higher than that stated on the FSA’s website, now run a significantly increased risk of being caught out by the consumer and consequently finding themselves in hot water with authorities.
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