A MOBILE catering van based in a town in Monmouthshire is celebrating after being awarded the highest possible food hygiene rating on their first inspection. 

Buttys Snack Bar, found on the Wonastow Industrial Estate in Monmouth, recently shared the outcome of their first food hygiene inspection from the local council.

The Food Hygiene Rating Act 2013 became law in Wales on March 4, 2013, requiring all businesses selling food in Wales - including pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels, takeaways, schools, hospitals, canteens, care homes and corner shops – to display hygiene ratings in a prominent place, and to provide the information verbally if requested over the phone.

Inspections are carried out by the local authority officers, and ratings - from zero, meaning urgent improvement is necessary or they may risk closure; to five, meaning standards are excellent - are updated on the FSA website. Businesses have the right to appeal against ratings.

Each inspection is carried out over three categories, hygienic food handling, management of food safety and cleanliness and condition of facilities and building. 

The official Food Standards Agency Wales website gives a specific definition of each of the categories inspected. 

The hygienic food handling covers all areas of the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.

The cleanliness and condition of facilities and building includes including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene. 

The management of food safety is defined as the system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future. 

The team at Buttys shared the news on their Facebook page on Friday, April 26 that they had been awarded a five star food hygiene rating, alongside an image of their hygiene rating sticker on the window. 

They wrote: "Extremely proud to announce that on our first inspection we’ve been given 5 [star food hygiene rating]. Fantastic effort from the whole team!"

According to the official results on the Food Standards Agency Wales website, the inspection took place on Tuesday, March 5. 

Buttys Snack Bar was given a grade of very good in both the cleanliness and condition of facilities and building and the management of food safety categories, while the hygienic food handling category was graded as good.