Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, or 'scores on the doors', is a Food Standards Agency and local authority partnership initiative to provide consumers with at-a-glance information about hygiene standards in food businesses found during planned inspections.

To help your food business get the most out of its food hygiene rating, use the online toolkit which has ideas on how to promote hygiene standards and help increase your number of customers who come through the door or order online.

Download the food hygiene rating toolkit from the Food Standards Agency website.

Check a Food Hygiene Rating

The Food Standards Agency maintains a database of food hygiene ratings across England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. You can check a premises' rating here:

Check food hygiene ratings on GOV.UK

How are businesses rated?

After each planned inspection a rating from 0 (the worst) to 5 (the best) is awarded based on food hygiene and safety standards found at the time of the inspection in the following areas:

• compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures
• compliance with structural requirements
• confidence in management controls/procedures

Scheme disclaimer

The scheme is not an endorsement of current standards but merely reflects the score awarded at the time of inspection. The rating does not reflect the quality of food or the standard of service provided to customers.

Find out more about the scheme from the Food Standards Agency website.

If you're unhappy with your rating

You can appeal your rating or request that your business is re-rated. These appeals are handled by local environmental health teams across the county.

Use our lookup tool to find out about food hygiene ratings in your area: