Call for mandatory food hygiene ratings
Pressure is now growing on the NSW government to turn the voluntary ratings system across the state’s restaurants into one that’s mandatory.
Ratings are displayed on some windows but only when the council signs up to the scheme and the business is happy about its rating.
The program was launched in 2010, and so far, only one in three councils in NSW have adopted the system.
The NSW Food Authority is now facing calls from councils and industry groups to change its Scores On Doors initiative which issues provides certificates with three, four and five star ratings after a routine health inspection.
These groups are demanding it be made mandatory so that food safety can be standardised across the state. They say that would provide customers with information about hygiene at food establishments that would at least be consistent.
Bankstown Council, now part of the amalgamated City of Canterbury-Bankstown, says only 76 local businesses have chosen to display certificates since the council adopted the scheme in 2014.
It now says the scheme has to be made mandatory.
"Customers are requesting the scheme be made compulsory," a council spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"We have called on the NSW government and the NSW Food Authority on a number of occasions to make the program mandatory for all food businesses."
The Restaurants and Catering Industry Association also wants the program to be made compulsory.
It says that would suffice if the association goes ahead with its plan to replace the Name and Shame register, which lists businesses that have been issued with a penalty notice for a food safety offence.
"One of the great things about the program is that we're getting some standardisation across the state," the association's policy and public affairs director Carlita Warren told the Sydney Morning Herald.
One of the reasons some councils might be reluctant to come on board might be costs. North Sydney Council has told the Sydney Morning Herald that implementing the scheme would cost "between $15,000 and $20,000 in staff time and overheads for the 2016/2017 financial year to ensure the delivery of the Scores on Doors program".
However, other councils like Sydney and Mosman say it doesn’t cost much beyond the existing health budget.
by Leon Gettler, July 14th 2016
