Food hygiene is essential to ensure that the food you serve is safe to eat. When setting up a food business, you must put in place effective procedures to ensure hygiene standards are maintained from the outset.

Food hygiene ratings

We operate the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) developed by the Food Standards Agency.

You can check a business’s rating by searching on the FHRS website

Food businesses are encouraged to display their rating sticker at their premises (for example, on a window or door). This is not currently a legal requirement in England.

The FHRS provides information about the hygiene standards of a business. Ratings are given to a wide range of food businesses, including:

      •     restaurants

      •     pubs

      •     cafés

      •     takeaways

      •     hotels

      •     supermarkets and other food shops

How we inspect food businesses

During a food hygiene inspection, an Environmental Health Officer will:

      •     inspect food preparation, storage and handling areas

      •     discuss your food safety practices and procedures

      •     review your food safety management system

Following the inspection, the officer will give the business a hygiene rating from 0 (urgent improvement required) to 5 (very good) and provide an updated FHRS sticker.

The rating is based on:

      •     food handling practices – how food is prepared, cooked, reheated, cooled and stored

      •     structure and cleanliness – the condition, layout, lighting, ventilation and facilities

      •     confidence in management – how well food safety is managed and maintained

All ratings are awarded in line with the FHRS Brand Standard to ensure consistency.

Your food hygiene rating

After your inspection, you will receive a food hygiene rating score between 0 and 5.

If your business receives a rating between 0 and 4, you have the following options:

      •     Right of appeal

      •     Right to reply

      •     Request a re-rating inspection

Appeals

If you believe your rating is unfair or incorrect, you can appeal in writing to the Lead Food Safety Officer.

You must submit your appeal within 21 days (including weekends and bank holidays) from the date you received your rating.

Before submitting an appeal, you should review the guidance on the Food Standards Agency website.

Request a re-rating inspection

If you have addressed the issues identified during your inspection, you can request a re-rating visit.

You will need to provide details of:

      •     the improvements made

      •     the actions taken to resolve the issues

A re-rating visit costs £262. You may request more than one re-visit.

Please note that:

      •     a higher rating is not guaranteed

      •     your rating may be lowered if further issues are identified

Right to Reply

The right to reply allows you to explain the actions you have taken following your inspection or highlight any exceptional circumstances at the time.

Your response will be published online alongside your hygiene rating.

To submit a right to reply, please complete the FHRS Right to Reply form [DOCX, 75Kb] and return it to commercial.envhealth@scambs.gov.uk.

Our responsibilities

We publish a Food Service Plan [PDF, 0.3MB] [PDF, 0.3MB], outlining our food safety and health and safety enforcement activities, in line with requirements from the Food Standards Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.