Food Hygiene Ratings are assessed via routine food premises inspection visits (statutory inspections) which follow the "Food Law Code of Practice (England)"

At the inspection, the Environrmental Health Officer will allocate scores for:

  • The level of compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures
  • The level of complaince with structural requirements
  • Confidence in management

These three scores will then enable the officer to rate the hygiene standards on a scale of 0-5. A score of 5 will be the highest level indicating very good standards of food hygiene and a score of 0 will indicate that urgent improvement is necessary.

How to achieve the highest score

In order to achieve the best score possible, you will need to ensure your business meets the high standards in the following three areas:

  • How hygienically the food is handled - how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
  • The condition of the structure of the buildings - the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
  • How the business manages and records what it does to make the food safe (a documented food safety management system based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control point)

In order to help you achieve a high rating please use the FHRS guidance checklist below in "downloads". If you are able to answer "yes" to all the points on the checklist and the Environmental Health Officer is able to find evidence of this at inspection, then you should be able to meet a score of three "generally satisfactory" or above.

Most businesses require a fully documented food safety management system and need to show that it is being operated effectively. If you do not have a fully documented system, then you may only reach a score of 1 out of a possible 5.

What to do if you disagree with your hygiene rating

If you are not happy with the food hygien rating you have been awarded, you should contact the inspecting officer to discuss your concerns. If the issue cannot be resolved at that stage, you also have three further options to consider:

Last updated: Tue 31st July, 2018 @ 09:21