Braintree Council are now LIVE!
Food businesses across the UK are inspected by officers from the
local Council. Following the inspection, each business is
scored according to the standards found such as cleanliness.
Many Councils are now publishing the results of their inspections,
often referred to as ‘Scores on the Doors’.
Why publish ‘Scores on the Doors’?
So consumers can make informed choices about where they choose
to eat.
If consumers are making informed choices about where they want
to eat, food business operators will be keen to improve their score
and this will help drive up food hygiene standards across the
country.
Who is participating in the ‘Scores on the Doors’
scheme?
Nationally, over 150 Councils are participating in
different schemes
In Essex, Basildon, Maldon, Southend-on-Sea, Harlow
and Thurrock Councils are currently publishing their results
on the Scores on the doors website that Braintree DC are
using. Colchester Borough Council runs a 5 star scheme but
their results are only accessible via their council
website. Brentwood, Chelmsford and Rochford, are
planning to join up to the scores on the doors scheme in 2010.
Braintree Council along with other Councils in Essex will only
be publishing the scores of certain types of food business, for
example at the moment in Braintree District we have only published
scores for catering and manufacturing businesses.
Where can I find ‘Scores on the Doors’?
Various schemes exist, however, Braintree District Council along
with the other Essex authorities are using the following website -
www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk.
Food businesses are rated between 0 and 5 stars, 5 stars being
excellent and no stars being very poor.
This website gives details of how businesses both locally and
nationally have scored following their food hygiene inspection - so
if you want to check out your local take-away or restaurant, just
click onto the website and see.
Food hygiene ratings on your mobile
As well as accessing the information via the webpage, you can
access the information on your mobile!
WAP users: browse:
www.sotd.tv
SMS users: text: sotd followed
by <business name> and
<town> to 60060
(Dont worry about entering the exact names - the first few
letters will be enough).
Do food business operators have the right to query their
score?
Braintree Council wrote to all of their caterers and
manufacturers to advise them of their individual star score and how
the scheme works before the site went live. Every effort will
be made to ensure the accuracy of the data that is published;
however, there will be a ‘formal ‘right to reply’ which food
business operators can use.
Should you require further information, please contact
Environment Health at Braintree District
Council.