The Hygiene Rating Scheme is run by FSSAI for food service establishments including restaurants, cafés, sweet shops, bakeries and meat shops. A third-party audit agency empanelled by FSSAI inspects the outlet against a checklist based on hygiene and sanitary requirements, and the outlet receives a rating on a scale of one to five, shown as smiley faces. The certificate can be displayed at the premises and on food delivery platforms. The scheme is described by FSSAI as voluntary.
Refrigeration features across the checklist: whether perishable food is stored at correct temperatures, whether refrigerators and freezers are clean and in good repair, whether raw and cooked foods are separated, and whether temperature records are maintained. A tidy, well-maintained unit with a working thermometer and an up-to-date log makes those questions easy to answer.
A sweet shop in Surat aiming for a top rating before the festival season might service its mithai counter, replace worn door gaskets on the back refrigerators, start a daily temperature log and reorganise storage so milk sweets sit apart from raw ingredients.