Scores on Doors
Council plays an active role in food regulation and the promotion of safe food practices. Our officers conduct regular inspections of all food and health care premises across the area and we provide a scoring system based on the results of the inspection. The program, known as Scores on Doors promotes how well restaurants, cafes and other eateries are complying with NSW hygiene and food safety requirements. Food shops that do not comply with regulatory standards can be listed on the NSW Food Authority's Name and Shame register.
Eating out? Getting food in? Check the Scores on Doors
To help you choose where to eat out or shop for food Burwood Council is participating in the NSW Scores on Doors program.
The program gives you information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pub bistros, cafés, takeaways, hotels, and other places you eat out.
Visible hygiene scores
Scores on Doors is being run by Burwood Council in partnership with the NSW Food Authority. The program will help you choose where to eat out or shop for food. Certificates and stickers on display at food premises give you information about the hygiene standards in food premises at the time they are inspected by one of our officers. Council officers check that businesses are meeting legal requirements for food hygiene.
It’s not easy to judge hygiene standards on appearance alone. The Scores on Doors certificates and stickers give you an idea of what’s going on in the kitchen, or behind closed doors.
Consumers can choose
You can check the scores and use the information to choose a business with higher standards. It’s also good to share this information with friends
and family. Scores on Doors ratings recognise businesses with the highest standards and encourage others to improve. The aim is to reduce the number of cases of food poisoning which currently affects around 5.4 million Australians every year.
At retail food outlets
Scores on Doors certificates and stickers can be displayed by:
- Restaurants
- Takeaways
- Cafés
- Sandwich shops
- Pub bistros
- Hotels
Rigorous ratings
Each business is given a rating following an inspection by a council officer. This is based on how well the business is meeting the requirements of food hygiene law at that time. In particular:
- How hygienically the food is handled – safe preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage
- What condition the structure of the premises is in – cleanliness, repair, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
- How the business manages what it does to make sure food is safe, so the officer can be confident standards will be maintained in the future.
Each of these three elements is essential to ensure that hygiene and food safety standards meet requirements and the food served or sold to you is safe to eat.
The score is for the conditions found at the time of the last inspection.
The rating is not for the quality of food or the standard of service the business provides.
Business owners and managers can find out more about what they need to do to achieve the highest rating with the factsheet How to achieve a higher rating at Food Authority
3 Possible Ratings
The hygiene and food safety score reflects the standards found at the time the business is inspected by a council officer. These officers are specially trained to assess food standards. All businesses should be able achieve the top rating of Excellent. Excellent requires that businesses score well in each area of:
- Handling of food
- Condition of premises
- Management of processes
Food premises awarded ‘no grade’ and not given a certificate and sticker are very likely to be performing poorly in all 3 elements. They are also likely to have a history of serious problems. There may, for example, be insufficient cleaning and disinfection, and the system of management in place may not be good enough to make sure the food is safe. Some businesses may not display a certificate and sticker because they are not participating in the program.