Online services may be unavailable on occasions during Saturday 26th May 2012 and Sunday 27th May 2012 due to essential maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and we'll be aiming to minimize any distruption.

National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme lets the public see what the hygiene rating of a business is:

Rating scheme certificate  Rating scheme certificate

The Aim of the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme has been created to help consumers make informed choices about where they choose their food from. It also encourages the businesses to improve their standards by publicly recognising high hygiene standards.

The scoring system
Environmental Health Officers carry out food hygiene inspections of food premises according to the Food Law Code of Practice. At the end of an inspection the business is given a score for the management of each of the following:

  • Food Hygiene compliance (handling and preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage)
  • Structural compliance (cleanliness, condition, layout, lighting and ventilation)
  • Confidence in management (management and records, training, procedures, maintenance, etc)

These scores help determine how often the business will be inspected.

The scoring system of rating for the public is decided by adding the three scores together, and ensuring there is no significant failing in any one score.

The Award
The scheme has six levels, from 5 to 0. A 5 rating shows that the business has reached a very good level of compliance with food hygiene law. Premises with a 0 rating shows a poor level of compliance with legal requirements.

Any food businesses, no matter how small, should be able to achieve a 5 rating award.

We have begun to award ratings to caterers across the district, and a picture of most cafes, restaurants, catering and retail businesses across the District should build up over the next three years.
Premises which have a very low risk rating (usually because they are handling small quantities of low risk foods) will generally be exempt from the ratings scheme.

Each premises will be given a certificate and a sticker to display in a prominent place to inform the public of its score if it wishes too. The score is also entered on the national database at www.food.gov.uk/ratings, so the public can look up premises in their area and see how the business has done.

Benefits for Food Business Operators

  • Businesses can advertise their high hygiene standard.
  • Ratings awarded can be used in advertising or promotional activities.

Benefit for Consumers

  • The public can make informed choices about where they choose to eat or buy food, aware of the standard of food hygiene in the food premises.
  • Consumers can compare one business with another in their area and more widely.

Page last updated on 24 May 2012