Watford Borough Council

The Council carries out regular checks on all food premises to ensure the public is protected and that high standards are maintained.

Environmental Health Officers carry out programmed food hygiene inspections of all food businesses in the Borough, ranging from food manufacturers, hotels, residential care homes, schools, restaurants, take-aways and supermarkets.

The purposes of inspections are:

• To determine which food businesses are complying with the law
• To ensure that food has been hygienically prepared and is safe to eat
• To advise food proprietors on good practice

Inspections involve looking at the condition of the premises, the personal hygiene of the food handlers, and the way in which food is stored, prepared, cooked, chilled and served.

Where food businesses are not complying with the law, Inspectors have a wide range of powers available to them. These range from informal advice, recommendations and written warning through to more formal action. This more formal action can involve serving a legal notice on a proprietor requiring work to be done. Businesses can also be prosecuted, and in extreme cases, where there is an imminent risk to public health, a business can be closed.

In addition to the range of enforcement options available to Inspectors, the Council also operates a 'Score on the Doors' scheme, whereby a star rating from zero to 5 is allocated to the business following a full inspection. To find out more about the scheme and view current star ratings, please click on the related page (scores on the doors) on this page.

Regulations

There is a considerable amount of legislation with which food businesses must comply. The majority of requirements are contained within E C Regulation 852/2004 and fhe Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006.

These contain requirements relating to the structure and layout of food premises, training and personal hygiene of food handlers, as well as how food should be stored, handled, prepared, cooked, chilled, reheated, displayed and served.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health publishes several useful Guides on these regulations, and how they can be complied with. The Environment, Health and Licensing Service holds limited stocks of the Guides for the Retail and Catering Industries, which can be purchased.

In addition, there is a wide range of information available, such as guidance notes and leaflets, from the Food Standards Agency.