The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme gives you information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, etc, as well as supermarkets and other food shops.Ratings are a snapshot of the standards of food hygiene found at the time of the inspection. It is the responsibility of the business to comply with food hygiene law at all times.

A business is given one of six ratings:

  • 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 necessary

Any business should be able to reach a rating of 5.

The way a business looks is not always an indication of hygiene standards, so you can check the ratings given by the inspector. The rating is not a guide to food quality or customer service. You can ask for a copy of the inspection report if you want to know more about why a business received the score they did by making a Freedom of Information request