Chapter 4: Attitudes toward the FHRS
This chapter provides an overview of attitudes towards the FHRS, including views on mandatory display and where food hygiene ratings should be displayed.
Food businesses are provided with a sticker which shows their food hygiene rating. In England businesses are encouraged to display their food hygiene rating sticker at their premises, however in Wales and Northern Ireland food businesses are legally required to display their FHRS rating (footnote 1).
Views on mandatory display
Respondents were asked whether they thought that food businesses should be required by law to display their food hygiene rating at their premises, or if it should be up to the business to decide whether to or not. Of the respondents who had heard of the FHRS, 93% thought that food businesses should be required by law to display their food hygiene rating on the premises, and 4% thought it should be up to the business to decide whether to display their food hygiene rating. This finding was similar across all three countries; most respondents in England (93%), Wales (95%) and Northern Ireland (91%) thought that food businesses should be required by law to display their food hygiene rating at their premises** (footnote 2) .
Respondents were also asked whether they thought businesses providing an online food ordering service should display their food hygiene rating where it can clearly be seen by customers before they order food. Of the respondents who had heard of the FHRS, 95% thought that businesses providing an online food ordering service should display their food hygiene rating where it can clearly be seen by customers before they order food, and 1% did not. This finding was consistent in England (95%), Wales (94%), and Northern Ireland (93%)** (footnote 3) .
Views on where food hygiene ratings should be displayed
Figure 19. Locations where respondents think food hygiene ratings should be displayed.
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Respondents were asked where they thought hygiene ratings should be displayed, from a given list of locations. Most respondents thought that food hygiene ratings should be displayed on takeaway websites (94%), restaurant or café websites (94%), on hotel or B&B websites (93%) and on the websites or apps of food ordering and delivery companies (92%). Around 8 in 10 respondents thought that food hygiene ratings should be displayed on supermarket websites (83%) and on food business’s social media sites (82%) (Figure 19) (footnote 4).
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Legislation for the mandatory display of FHRS ratings at premises was introduced in November 2013 in Wales and October 2016 in Northern Ireland.
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Question: Do you think that food businesses should be required by law to display their food hygiene rating at their premises, or should it be up to the business to decide whether to or not? Responses: They should have to, It should be up to them to decide, Don’t know. Base = 4350, all online respondents and those answering the Eating Out postal questionnaire who have heard of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, excluding ‘not stated’.
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Question: Do you think businesses providing an online food ordering service should display their food hygiene rating where it can clearly be seen by customers before they order food? Responses: Yes, No, Don’t know. Base = 4347, all online respondents and those answering the Eating Out postal questionnaire who have heard of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, excluding ‘not stated’.
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Question: Do you think the hygiene ratings should be displayed on.... Food ordering and delivery companies' apps and websites that allow you to order food from a range of local restaurants and takeaways? / A food business's social media site / A restaurant's or cafe's own website? / A takeaway's own website? / A hotel's or B&B's own website? / A supermarket's own website? Base = 4755, all online respondents and those answering the Eating Out postal questionnaire.
Revision log
Published: 21 October 2022
Last updated: 23 October 2023