A review of a system in Scotland that combined food hygiene and food standards inspections has found it is not yet working as well as it was hoped. The Food Law Rating System (FLRS), introduced in 2019, combines the rating systems for food hygiene and food standards by which businesses and producers are assessed into one regime. The aim was to reduce the duplication caused by two separate systems and enable local authorities to target resources at high-risk and non-compliant food establishments.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) commissioned IFF Research to evaluate the FLRS to determine whether it had achieved its design goal. Between February and April 2024, authorized food officers in all 32 Scottish local authorities and eight stakeholders, including current and former FSS staff and representatives of industry and professional bodies, were interviewed. Resource issues There was general positivity about the FLRS piloting experience.
However, several pilot authorities said their concerns about potential resource intensity were not considered. Respondents were positive about combining the food hygiene and food standards systems, with most feeling it was a logical step. Most local authorities and stakeholders reported that the initial implementation of FLRS had been a difficult and protracted process.
Some authorities had only recently achieved full implementation, and a few had yet to fully implement the system when they participated in the research. Several participants said th.
