The national scheme is a Food Standards Agency (FSA) initiative to provide consumers with at-a-glance information about hygiene standards in food businesses found during planned inspections. The aim is to help them to make informed choices about where they eat out or shop for food.
What the ratings mean
Each business participating is given a score between zero and five, based on their last inspection. The rating looks at compliance in three areas; food hygiene and safety procedures, structural requirements and confidence in management.
- 0 - Urgent improvement necessary
- 1 - Major improvement necessary
- 2 - Improvement necessary
- 3 - Generally satisfactory
- 4 - Good
- 5 - Very good
Find the hygiene rating for a food business
To find the hygiene rating for a business you can search for a business on the Food Standards Agency website
Exempt businesses
Not all businesses are included in the scheme, just those that supply food directly to the public. Exempt businesses include:
- newsagents selling sweets only
- chemist and gift shops that sell packaged biscuits and sweets
- childminders and other care providers
Safeguards for businesses
The food hygiene rating scheme includes a number of safeguards to ensure it is fair to businesses. Businesses can request an appeal, have a ‘right to reply’ and can request a re-visit inspection. To use any of the safeguards you must complete and submit the relevant form.
Right to reply
You have a 'right to reply' if you've improved hygiene standards since your inspection, or if there were unusual circumstances at the time of the inspection and you want to explain this to your customers. This will be published with your hygiene rating on the Food Standards Agency website.
Go to the Food Standards Agency website to download the Right to Reply form
Appeal a rating
You can appeal if you think your hygiene rating is wrong or unfair - in other words it does not fairly reflect the hygiene standards found at the time of your inspection.
Download the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Appeal form
Request a re-inspection
You can ask for another inspection to change the rating if you have made the improvements that the officer told you about at your last planned inspection. The officer will then re-assess hygiene standards at the time and give you a new rating. These are non-statutory hygiene rating re-inspections and from 1 April 2024 they will be subject to a charge of £240 per re-inspection.
When making a request you are required to provide information about the improvements you have made since your initial inspection. During the re-inspection, the officer will be looking at standards overall and not just at the specific areas you have been working to improve. Therefore the rating may go down or stay the same as well as go up.
There will be no limit to the number of re-inspections requested. However, to avoid paying for multiple visits, business owners are advised to address all the issues before submitting a request. Additionally, all requested re-inspections will be carried out within three months of receipt of payment.
Download the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Revisit Request form
More information
Visit Food hygiene ratings for businesses on the Food Agency website for further guidance and toolkits.
