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Five Star Rating


JennyMorgan

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I agree.  What would be nice is if England made it law that establishments had to post their hygiene rating on their premises.

This is taken from the Food Standards Agency Website:

“Businesses in England and Northern Ireland do not have to display their rating. So if you see a business without a hygiene rating sticker or certificate, you’ll have to decide if you want to eat or buy food from there without knowing the hygiene standards.

Putting a hygiene rating on show is a good advertisement for businesses that meet the requirements of food hygiene law.

A good food hygiene rating is good for business.

The situation is different in Wales. Businesses that get a new rating after 28 November 2013, must by law display a sticker showing their rating in a prominent place in all entrances to the premises.”

Furthermore, if you’ve been rated (for example) a two star rating, and you then go on to make big improvements to your operations you can then request a re-visit and assessment which will likely result in an improved rating being awarded.

So, when you have places such as the Chip Shop at Potter Heigham have a zero rating (as of 30th May this year) you really gotta ask yourself just how bad things must be there. The Potter Tea Rooms come in with five stars and very nice it was too.

Of note the Ferry Inn has improved from 1 star rating in March 2015 to a 2 star rating as of this May.

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Hmmm, Not so sure!

If the Tufted Duck freehouse on Hoveton Little Broad waters edge, received a 1 star rating followed by a bunch of internet police starting threads about how anyone who eats there will die, It doesn't bode well for anyone who tries (sucessfully) to improve it's standards. How would it survive in business if improved but with so much negative comment

There are far too many people who will stomp in with poor reveiws based on reputation rather than personal experience.

1 hour ago, LondonRascal said:

So, when you have places such as the Chip Shop at Potter Heigham have a zero rating (as of 30th May this year) you really gotta ask yourself just how bad things must be there.

Yes Robin, or better than ask, you could find out by going in! That establishment receives a lot of flack, even from me. I have had things from there in the past, and will no doubt go again in the future. The chips are not to my taste, but I've had worse on the broads from places recommended on broads forums.

Do I trust the 'examiners' to be even handed? No I don't

Do I expect the questions asked and the rules governing those questions to be purely Hygene related? No I don't.

Do I think that an obnoxious landlord will be treaded as kindly as one who is eager to please? No I don't.

There are many other things that I wonder, most of which do not come out favourably towards pen pushing authoritarians who spend a significant percentage of their working life making work for themselves to ensure their continued employment.

Yes places need to be checked on a regular basis and if found dangerously wanting, they should be closed down. if not, they should be left alone to ply their trade.

Pass/Fail Open/Closed down I can accept. Grades 1 to 5 I cannot. Making it compulsory to display said results and/or publishing them on the internet I am fully against. This view might change if as well as publishing them, there was a full report also published explaining to the General public how the grade was arrtived at, what can be done to improve it and a full justification as to how and why anyone acheiving top grade did so.

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2 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

I agree.  What would be nice is if England made it law that establishments had to post their hygiene rating on their premises.

 

Of note the Ferry Inn has improved from 1 star rating in March 2015 to a 2 star rating as of this May.

And they still flock there . Perhaps they don't know - or do they just not care ?

Here's another highly rated by many - http://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/en-GB/42212/Maltsters-Public-House-Ranworth

Scrapes a '3'.

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Just now, Poppy said:

Doesn't do it for me....

 

No but it's one of the best places to drop the mudweight in the middle of summer watching the sun go down over the church.. I'm no fan of that pub but they certainly benefit from the popular spot. 

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39 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

Yes Robin, or better than ask, you could find out by going in!

Sorry Maurice, but rather than play Russian roulette with my health, why wouldn't I just rely on the opinion of the paid expert, who's job it is. If it comes down to the taste or presentation of food, then fine we all have different tastes and expectations, and different concepts of what constitutes value for money. When it comes down to hygiene it is very largely a factual exercise. Is the food properly segregated in the fridge? Are surfaces and areas clean? Is food in date? Is it cooked to the right temperature? do the staff know what the right temperature is, and how to check it? There is very little room for opinion in those yes or no questions. 

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11 minutes ago, kfurbank said:

Sorry Maurice, but rather than play Russian roulette with my health, why wouldn't I just rely on the opinion of the paid expert, who's job it is. If it comes down to the taste or presentation of food, then fine we all have different tastes and expectations, and different concepts of what constitutes value for money. When it comes down to hygiene it is very largely a factual exercise. Is the food properly segregated in the fridge? Are surfaces and areas clean? Is food in date? Is it cooked to the right temperature? do the staff know what the right temperature is, and how to check it? Their is very little room for opinion in those yes or no questions. 

Superb post which says it all perfectly IMHO.  I get utterly cheesed off by the defence of establishments which continually fall short of their obligations - for that's what they are - to their customers, because they like, and feel a fondness for a particular establishment or the people who run it. Sort of 'he's my mate, he's a good bloke, but I love that place'.

I agree with Robin, that it should be made law that establishments had to post their hygiene rating on their premises. That way a prospective customer can be under no doubt if they are taking a risk with their health or not if they choose to eat there!

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As I have said elsewhere, we worked very hard to raise our rating from the 2 when we took over to our current 5 - mainly down to SWMBO and our colleague who is a game keeper turned poacher...  As our facilities are used by self-catering user groups, it is an ongoing challenge, as others can impact on our standards.

Yes it costs money; yes it takes time and effort; yes it is worth it... Frankly, if you can't afford to do the job properly, you are probably not viable as a food related business.  Once you have a 5 rating, further inspections won't just slap that down, unless there are serious failings, but will point out again, the ongoing improvements needed to continue to pass...

Should it be law to display?  I see no reason why not.

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2 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

As far as the Chippy at Potter Heigham goes..

I did go to the chippy at Potter Heigham, filmed the results too - and so will not be going back personally but here is my opinion of the food..This from May 2015.

 

I must say Robin those chips looked Awful ...

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I to feel ratings should be displayed be law,To active a good rating, must work to good standards,if you manage stock and cleaning well you are half way there.There is a clear set of rules that apply to catering outlets if they are passed your business will get a high mark.`If however your stock control,cleaning prep etc YOU WILL get a poor mark.As I have said  any outlet with a mark of 3 and below will not get my custom.

Ian 

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I think i`m in agreement with John on this one (Maurice M),  How can people re-build a buisness if their trade is driven away by a lower grade than an equivalent around the corner.  This is one reason why i NEVER look on trip advisor, and never take anybodies word for something. If i get a recommendation from someone, i`l give it a try and form my own opinion. If i`m happy with the food and service, i`l go back, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 star.

I wonder how people would feel if the hire fleets had to go down the same route?. With all the recommendations for one yard we all know, that yard years ago was by far and large, the WORST yard on the Broads. Now however, after new ownership, and a better outlook on their buisness, they`re a yard to be happy to book with. And they did it WITHOUT any stupid star rating.

Quoting Robin, his chips were bloody awful, so he won`t go back, but what if said establishment had a 4 or 5 star rating, but Robins chips were still rank?. It does happen,

I`m well aware of the need for official hygene standards, and rather than let jobsworth beaurotwatts invent some form of system that means they can stay at the office, get the hygene inspectors to regularly go and visit those they continually get complaints about.

 

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Sorry to go on but the rules concerning ratings is clear and are based on a number of reasons how food is kept ie correctly  stored prepared cooked etc how clean  the building is maintained etc .That is FOR SAFETY is not a matter of 8fvthe inspectors like you or not.My company works to the same rules ,and then working to higher standards.Still if you wish to eat is places  that have poor standards  feel free,but as a caterer we should aim high.

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13 minutes ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

Sorry to go on but the rules concerning ratings is clear and are based on a number of reasons how food is kept ie correctly  stored prepared cooked etc how clean  the building is maintained etc .That is FOR SAFETY is not a matter of 8fvthe inspectors like you or not.My company works to the same rules ,and then working to higher standards.Still if you wish to eat is places  that have poor standards  feel free,but as a caterer we should aim high.

I don`t think you understand what i`m getting at Ian, i DO expect a place to be clean and tidy, and i DO expect all food should be cooked, stored, and prepared in the correct way, i don`t want to get food poisoning as much as anybody else, but star systems usually don`t tell the whole story. If  as John, MM says, a place has complaints made against it, and it fails to come up to standards when visited by the relevent people, close the place down, don`t just give it 1 or 2 stars, by doing that, you`re condoning poor standards.  If an eatery fails to come up to a minimum standard, close it down full stop.

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Either a place meets the standards or it doesn't, that really should be the end of. Whether it is a new business, a business aiming to rebuild itself or whatever, it should still meet reasonable standards. No different to the MOT really. By awarding 1 to 3 stars the inspectors are hardly condoning poor standards, more like they are giving businesses the advice and encouragement to do better. Perhaps that encouragement would be more effective if more customers chose not to frequent low scoring outlets or outlets that don't display their star ratings.  

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How did we all survive before the star rating came to the fore?  And goodness knows how so many of us are here that survived purchasing food before sell by dates became the norm.  I've eaten at hundreds of roadside greasy spoons here in UK with no stars, and some of the shanty towns abroad in the back of the beyond too and yet I'm still here (Just)

Griff

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Charlie, that is an easy one to answer, both as a country and a society we have moved on. I mentioned the MOT, do you really think motoring would be safer without it? No different with the hygiene standards in my opinion. No system is perfect but the star system must surely have saved lives and that can't be bad.  

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1 star or 5 stars it doesn't matter.. It all depends who is handling the food and if they have washed there hands... Also cross contamination of raw and cooked produce... I learnt all this from my Doctor last year when I had food poisoning from a dodgy KFC... Now I know why they serve it in a bucket.. :Sailing

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