The Impact of New Food Legislation on the Hotel Industry

Reports on a survey assessing hoteliers′ knowledge and understanding of the recently introduced Food Safety Act 1990 and Food Hygiene (Amendment) Regulations 1990/1991. Forty per cent of hotels in the Cardiff area (30 in all) were approached to participate, ten refused, eight of these being small hotels (under 20 bedrooms). Knowledge and understanding of the new legislation was generally poor especially amongst the managers of small hotels. The main offences, enforcement procedures, penalties and temperatures required in the legislation were particularly poorly understood. Managers in larger chain‐owned hotels had the greatest levels of knowledge and understanding and had made the most progress towards being able to show “due diligence”. Makes recommendations for improved communication of food safety information.