Eat, Drink, Shop

Knowing the score with food hygiene ratings

By ResLifeCheryl 09 Aug 2023

You might’ve noticed this little green box appear on your favourite takeaway website, or perhaps the window of a café or restaurant. But what do the ratings actually mean and what are they for?

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) helps you choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving you clear information about the businesses’ hygiene standards. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) runs the scheme in partnership with local authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The FHRS gives businesses a rating from 5 to 0 which is displayed at their premises and online so you can make more informed choices about where to buy and eat food.

What’s the score?

5 – hygiene standards are very good

4 – hygiene standards are good

3 – hygiene standards are generally satisfactory

2 – some improvement is necessary

1 – major improvement is necessary

0 – urgent improvement is required

Understanding the ratings

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.

Find out the food hygiene ratings of places near you, or:

Or download the app.

ResLifeCheryl Hi I’m Cheryl. I work as part of the Campus Services Facilities Team and I am Technical support for Food Safety on Campus.
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