Evaluation of the display of the FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme in Wales

The Food Standards Agency Wales has commissioned a small scale quantitative study to investigate Welsh businesses’ display of food hygiene ratings in their premises.
Food hygiene rating schemes are designed to provide consumers with information about the hygiene standards at the time of inspection by Local Authority (LA) food safety officers. The purpose of the schemes is to allow consumers to make informed choices and, through this, to encourage non compliant businesses to improve hygiene standards.
FHRS ratings are displayed at www.food.gov.uk/ratings and businesses are provided with stickers and/or certificates and are encouraged by their LA (although not currently mandatory) to display these at their premises.

The study sought to estimate the level of display of FHRS stickers in food premises and to understand the motivations for display or non-display. The study was carried out in two parts, a physical audit of FHRS display rates and a telephone survey with food businesses.

A sample of publically accessible food businesses that had been rated under the FHRS were physically audited by a mystery shopper. The mystery shopper recorded the presence or absence of the FHRS sticker and the location of the sticker. The mystery shopper only entered the premises if the FHRS sticker was not externally observable. From a sample of 494 premises, 447 were audited.

During the second component of the study, 500 telephone interviews with staff responsible for food handling and hygiene in food businesses that had been rated under the FHRS were carried out. The interview collected data on the reasons for display or not, the impact display had had, and in cases of non-display, what would increase their motivation to display. 298 of the telephone interviews were with premises that had been audited in the first stage of the research.

The research shows that in Wales only 6% of food businesses within the sample, with a rating of 0, 1 or 2 under the Food Hygiene Rating scheme are actually displaying the ratings in their premises, compared with 66% of those businesses which received a rating of 5.
However, where a business has decided to display its rating, then 77% of those were easy to find when the premises was visited by a ‘mystery shopper’.

The research was carried out by GfK NOP for the Agency during September to October 2011 and comprised of two stage process – firstly, ‘audit’ using the ‘mystery shopper’ technique and a second stage of telephone survey. A total of 447 food businesses across Wales, which had already been given a food hygiene rating by their local authority were visited, and 500 telephone interviews were conducted. Of these interviews, 298 food businesses were both audited and interviewed. Interview objectives included ascertaining reasons for non-display of stickers and motivations to display in the future.
The telephone interview found that of those businesses that were not displaying the rating sticker 41% would display it if they had a better rating, and a further 16% said they would display if it became a compulsory /mandatory requirement.