| NEA Grading System |
| The Grading System for Eating Establishments and Foodstalls was introduced in June 1997. Its two main aims were to provide a more structured system of appraisal for food outlets and to motivate licencees to improve and maintain good personal and food hygiene at their stalls. Besides providing recognition to licensees to improve and maintain a high standard of cleanliness, housekeeping and hygiene, this system enables the public to make a more informed choice when patronizing these stalls. Eating establishments and foodstalls are assessed by NEA and given the following grades of food hygiene: |
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Excellent Good Average Poor
>85% 70% - 84% 50% - 69% 40% - 49% |
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| Straight A's Programme |
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Building upon this system, the NEA has since introduced the Straight A's programme for school canteens and foodcourts. This programme sees the end of poor practices such as handling cooked food with bare hands, using chipped or cracked crockery, leaving cooked food exposed without proper cover, stacking of plates of food for sale and using uncovered refuse bins
NEA officers began working in partnership with major food court companies in Sept 2002 to boost the food hygiene standard in their outlets through a self-regulation program (SRP). The main component of the SRP is an in-house food hygiene monitoring system that supplements the regular inspections carried out by NEA. |
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| Sustainability through Self-Regulation |
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The SRP is a systematic process that enables the foodcourt operators to sustain their excellence in food hygiene. It comprises of regular audits carried out by the foodcourt supervisors and uses a self-check system to help stall operators keep track of their operational performance. Food stalls are assessed on areas such as housekeeping, the cleanliness of the preparation area, pest infestation and food and personal hygiene. This system also advocates regular documentation and periodic reviews by the foodcourt management, which are complemented by inputs from NEA. In addition, each foodcourt is expected to have a professional cleaning team (preferably NSRS-trained) that maintains and ensures a clean and pest free environment.Foodstalls can achieve the 'A' grade by observing the following practices:Good maintenance of the physical condition of the stall; |
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Good personal hygiene of food handlers - clean attire, clean hands and short fingernails, and the use of gloves or tongs to handle cooked food; |
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Good food hygiene practices: Proper handling of food, proper storage of food, proper showcases for displaying of food, etc |
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To achieve and maintain Straight A's, the foodcourt uses the SRP to sustain the practices mentioned above. In particular, it emphasizes the following practices: The food handler should not use bare hands to handle cooked food;
The food handlers should not keep long fingernails;
To prevent cross contamination, cooked and uncooked food should not be kept inthe same compartments;
Refuse bins must have lids and be covered at all times; |
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Food items or equipment should not be placed on the floor;
Chipped, broken or cracked crockery and utensils should not be used; and
Cooked food items should not be left exposed. |
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As of 31 Mar 2004, 43 foodcourts consisting of 630 foodstalls have earned Straight A's through this program. In January 2003, the programme was piloted in 20 school canteens. As of 4 Mar 2004, stalls in 43 school canteens have been upgraded to 'A' grade. Some 68,700 students eat at the 322 foodstalls in these canteens every day. |
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