How we rate food safety
Food hygiene rating scheme
After we inspect your business premises, we will rate it from 0-5 to show how closely you meet food hygiene law standards. 0 is the highest risk, 5 is the lowest risk. Find out more about the food ratings.
The food hygiene rating scheme helps people to choose where to eat out or shop for food, by giving them up-to-date information on food businesses in the borough.
You can search for ratings for local businesses on the Food Standards Agency website.
What happens after a food safety inspection?
After we inspect your business, we will give you an inspection report. We may also send you a letter, telling you what, how and when to improve if necessary. You will then need to make these improvements and show us that you have.
Depending on what we find during inspections, we may also tell you what you need to do.
If we find serious problems with food safety
If there are serious problems, we may send you a notice. The notice is a document setting out how you are breaking the law, and what you need to do to meet the law. A notice can order you to stop using certain types of equipment or methods until you make improvements. We will inspect your business again to make sure that you have done what we asked.
If you do not do what we ask in the notice, we can prosecute you.
How to appeal against the findings of a food safety inspection
You can find details of how to appeal on the letter or notice we send you.
The team leader for food will review your rating and communicate the outcome of your appeal to you within 21 days.
