Hygiene Rating has been initiated by FSSAI with intent of ensuring that consumers make informed choices while eating out and also encouraging food businesses to showcase and improve their food hygiene standards. Hygiene Rating Auditing Agency (HRAA) is tasked with ensuring adherence to the food safety and hygiene regulations set forth by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and obtaining a hygiene rating for restaurants. The hygiene rating audits are conducted as per norms laid by FSSAI and as prescribed by Quality Council of India (QCI).

FSSAI’s Hygiene Rating Audit is an online, transparent scoring and rating process which certify food businesses on the basis of their food safety compliance and allow consumers to make informed choices. This scheme aims to –
Encourage food businesses to improve their hygiene and safety standards.

Allow consumers to make informed choices pertaining to food outlets they eat or procure food.
It provide Opportunity for FBOs to self-assess food safety condition and improve. Consumers make informed choices about the food hygiene and safety quality of restaurants.

Type of Food Businesses Included in Hygiene Rating Scheme –

• Food service establishments (such as hotels, restaurants, cafeteria, dhabhas, etc), sweet shops, bakeries and meat retail stores.
• Meat Retail Shop.
• Sweet Shops.
• Bakery Shops

Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is a recent scheme under FSSAI’s Eat Right India Movement.   Hygiene Rating Scheme is a certification system for the food service and retail establishments providing food directly to the consumers. The food businesses are rated based on food hygiene and safety conditions observed at the time of audit/inspection. The hygiene rating certificate will be displayed prominently in the food service area to create demand of high levels of food hygiene standards.

Importance of HRA Auditing

• It gives an extensive inspection of a food establishment
• It assesses the facility's adherence to food hygiene and safety standards
• It helps instill a feeling of safety and trust in consumers' minds
• It helps food establishments find and improve gaps in the hygiene practices

Benefits

This Hygiene rating Auditing schemes is providing an opportunity to the Food business Operators (FBOs) to have the understanding of the basic criteria for ensuring safe food and implementation of these practices through training and capacity building of their food handlers.
Moreover, food businesses that are compliant can showcase their efforts to consumers by displaying this certificate prominently at the premises. This gives them a competitive edge over other businesses and wins the trust and loyalty of their consumers. It also plants the idea of food safety and hygiene in the minds of consumers, making those who are unaware also cognizant of the importance of food safety when they eat out. Overall, such a scheme benefits everyone as a whole because improved hygiene standards mean fewer instances of food-borne illnesses among citizens overall, better health and productivity of people, reduced burden on the healthcare system and ultimately growth and development of the economy and the country as a whole.
The food hygiene rating scheme also helps customers choose where to eat out or shop for their food by providing information about the business's hygiene standards. This helps to ensure that consumers are well informed about the setting in which their food is prepared so that they can choose accordingly.