What the rating covers?

Ratings are a snapshot of the standards of food hygiene found at the time of inspection. It is the responsibility of the business to comply with food hygiene law at all times.

This includes:

 

• handling of food

• how food is stored

• how food is prepared

• cleanliness of facilities

• how food safety is managed

 

 

The rating shows how well the business is doing overall, based on standards found at the time of inspection. The ratings can be found online and on stickers which are displayed at business premises. The back of the sticker and the online rating will also show the date of the inspection by the local authority’s food safety officer. 

 

 

The hygiene standards found at the time of inspection are then rated on a scale:

 

• 5 is top of the scale, this means the hygiene standards are very good and fully comply with the law

• 0 is at the bottom of the scale, this means urgent improvement is necessary

 

 

To get the top rating, businesses must do well in all three elements which are referenced above. If the top rating is not given, the officer will explain to the business the necessary actions they can take to improve their hygiene rating.

A breakdown of the three elements making up the food hygiene rating for business is also provided with the online rating. This information is available for businesses inspected since April 2016 in England and Northern Ireland and for businesses inspected in Wales since November 2014.

 

A food safety officer from the local authority inspects a business to check that it follows food hygiene law so that the food is safe to eat.

At the inspection, the officer will check the following three elements: 

 

• how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored

• the physical condition of the business –including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities

• how the business manages ways of keeping food safe, looking at processes, training and systems to ensure good hygiene is maintained. The officer can then assess the level of confidence in standards being maintained in the future.