Check scores on the doors on your phone

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is encouraging people to check out online food hygiene ratings for places where they eat.

The food hygiene rating scheme, known as ‘scores on the doors’, gives a rating out of 5 stars for every takeaway and restaurant and people are encouraged to check these before visiting.

While it is not yet compulsory for food premises to display their rating, only premises with a poor rating will not want to advertise their score

To make life even easier, an app is available for free download onto mobile phones which allows potential customers to check the ‘scores on the doors’ before visiting. In Blackburn with Darwen, 94% of food premises have a rating of 3 stars or above, so it should be easy to avoid going to a poorly-rated food outlet.

Councillor Jim Smith, Executive Member for Environment at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:

I’d encourage you to check the ’scores on the doors’ before you go to a takeaway or restaurant, to make sure the hygiene rating is good.

If a shop isn’t displaying its food hygiene rating, ask yourself why? The answer will probably be because it was poor. I recommend you vote with your feet and go somewhere which is displaying their good rating.’

Blackburn with Darwen also has the Recipe for Health scheme in the borough too, where takeaways and restaurants are certified for providing a healthier alternative to the usual takeaway meal – look for the Recipe 4 Health sticker on display and ask for healthier options, or search for ‘Recipe 4 Health Blackburn’ to find your nearest R4H retailer.

The food hygiene rating app is available from your app store, and further information on scores on the doors can be found at http://ratings.food.gov.uk