The Food Standards Agency of Northern Ireland has formally implemented the Food Hygiene Rating Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 meaning that by law all Food Service businesses must display the score obtained by local district councils. Scores range from 0 to 5, with 0 being lowest and 5 being highest.

This replaces the voluntary system that had been in place since 2011. It is anticipated by the Food Standards Agency that 90% of food businesses will be displaying their stickers within two months.

This development will give the public full transparency of a business’s Food Safety rating and place a greater emphasis on Food Safety for all food business Owners and Managers.

This means that restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, cafes, shops or takeaways that sell food will be required to display their ‘score on the door’ mark. Hospitals, Schools and Care Homes are also not exempt and will also be required to take action and display their rating.

Protecting your Business

There are 765,000 cases of food poisoning in the UK and Ireland each year. An association with an outbreak can be disastrous for a business. Implications such as closure, monetary fines and reputation damage can be extremely difficult to recover from, if possible at all.

The cost of poor hygiene and food safety.

With this in mind and with the public’s safety at hand, it is vital that businesses are doing their utmost to protect their customers from food safety concerns. Gaining and maintaining a high score will be paramount to keeping your customers coming through the doors and spending their hard earned money with you.

How is my score calculated?

As per the scoresonthedoors.org.uk website “A food safety officer from the local authority where the business is located inspects a business to check that it meets the requirements of food hygiene law. The officer will check:

• How hygienically the food is handled. How it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
• The condition of the structure of the buildings. The cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
• How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe

The hygiene standards are then rated on a scale of 0 – 5 where 5 is highest.

What does my score mean?

This is the guide to help you understand what your score mean and what needs to be done to improve.

0- Urgent Improvement Necessary
1- Major Improvement Necessary
2- Improvement Necessary
3- Generally Satisfactory
4- Good
5- Very Good

How FoodCheck can help you?

FoodCheck paperless HACCP system can help you manage and maintain your HACCP records, while streamlining your food safety process and prevent falsification offering you complete peace of mind. FoodCheck can protect your business and livelihood while saving you time and money.

How will FoodCheck do this?

• Remove Paper for your HACCP operation
• Reduce the amount time and workload involved in HACCP
• Eliminate Time Spent on Manual Checks of Fridges and Freezers
• Full transparency to Management of all HACCP records
• Peace of mind knowing HACCP records are safe and secure come Audit Time
• Safe in the knowledge you will be alerted should you have an issue with a fridge or freezer
• Reminders prompting staff to complete Important Tasks
• Reporting of Daily, Weekly and/or Monthly Usage
• Usage & Exception Reporting- Weekly highlights areas for improvement
• Tamper proof records ensuring they are correct, accurate and prevent falsification- E.H.O’s love this!

But don’t just take our word for it:

“I have had FoodCheck in my shop for over 5 years now. It has greatly reduced the amount of time and money we spend on HACCP. We could not imagine being without the system.”

Paul Dorrity, Centra Glenshane, Derry

“In November 2015 we installed Kelsius FoodCheck system in our Deli Department. Before installation our staff had over 15 sign off sheets, from Cleaning Sheets to Traceability. This has reduced the vast amount of paperwork which has been replaced by the tablet.

The Kelsius FoodCheck has removed the risk of human error in relation to temperature and traceability management.

The tablet encourages staff to use the system, as it is so easy to input records, saving time and money.”

Noelle Keenan, SuperValu Flemmings, Monaghan

“FoodCheck benefits our business by giving us the peace of mind that all of our HACCP records from delivery, cleaning, storage and cooking are accurate, safe and true. The ability to be logged in from anywhere and see live data is fantastic. Our Environmental health officer calls it the Rolls Royce of food safety and I would have to agree.”

Paul Gallagher, Head Chef, Doubletree by Hilton, Milton Keynes