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Environment and animals

How the food hygiene rating scheme works

Each business covered by the food hygiene rating scheme is inspected during an ‘unannounced’ visit by an Environmental Health Officer, giving a clear picture of how the business is run. The hygiene rating they receive reflects how well the business meets food hygiene laws, with 0 indicating ‘Urgent Improvement Necessary' and 5 meaning 'Very Good'.

Businesses are judged on:

  • compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures, including how hygienically the food is handled, prepared, cooked, cooled and stored, and measures taken to prevent contamination with bacteria
  • compliance with structural requirements, including condition of the premises, the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, equipment and other facilities
  • confidence in management control/procedures, looking at how food safety is managed and recorded each day

The Food Standards Agency has a list of current food business hygiene ratings and has published a toolkit for businesses to use in relation to the scheme. You can also see detailed information about how ratings are calculated.

Early publication of your food hygiene rating

If you've recently received a new food hygiene inspection rating score of 5 your rating will appear on the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating website within approximately 21 days of the date of your inspection.

If you receive a score of between 0 and 4 then your new rating will be displayed on the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating website within 35 days of the date of your inspection, once the appeal period has elapsed. However you may request that your new rating is published on the food hygiene ratings website before the appeal period has elapsed.

Download and complete the form to request an early publication of rating from the Food Standards Agency website, and return it to the Public Protection Unit.

Once your form has been received and reviewed, your new rating will be published at the next update.

Benefits of the food hygiene rating scheme

Since customers are increasingly aware of the food hygiene scheme and actively look for positive ratings when choosing where to eat, many food businesses display their hygiene rating on a window sticker. It’s proven that ‘good food hygiene is good for business’ as a third of them say this has resulted in greater customer confidence, better reputation and increased customer numbers.

Businesses that are unhappy with ratings

Any business should be able to reach the top rating and the inspector will explain to the owner or manager what improvements are needed and how they can improve.

To ensure that the scheme is fair to businesses, it includes a number of safeguards, such as:

  • an appeal procedure to follow if you feel the hygiene rating given at the time of your inspection is incorrect
  • a 'right to reply' (published online) which allows you to explain improved hygiene in your business, or any unusual circumstances at the time of the inspection
  • an opportunity to request a re-visit after you’ve made improvements, so that your business can be reassessed for a new hygiene rating. Please note, we charge £322 for this service. 

To utilise these safeguards read 'Safeguards for business' before completing and returning any forms:

You can pay for a food hygiene rating scheme re-visit online.

Scheme disclaimer

The food hygiene rating does not reflect the quality of food or the standard of service provided to customers. It is not an endorsement of current standards but merely reflects the score we awarded premises at the time of their inspection. Nevertheless, we try very hard to make sure information is correct. The food hygiene rating scheme adheres to the FSA's brand standard.

Also see

Food and Safety Unit

Eco Depot, Hazel Court, York, YO10 3DS

Telephone: 01904 551525