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With customers more aware of food safety than ever, you need a top score on the door to protect the reputation you’ve built.
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) is run by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The food hygiene rating—chosen on a scale of 0 to 5—illustrates a venue’s food safety, taking into account everything from food handling to how ingredients are stored, and of course, general hygiene.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, businesses that handle and sell food to the public, including:
will receive an inspection visit from the local authority's food safety officer. The purpose of the inspection is to assess their compliance with food hygiene and safety regulations.
The food hygiene ratings are determined by inspections carried out by local authorities, based on factors such as cleanliness, food handling, and the management of food safety.
Each rating reflects the level of food hygiene and safety observed during inspections conducted by local authorities.
Food hygiene ratings are scored from 5 to 0 and are based on FSA’s point system during the inspection. Here’s a quick overview of what each of the food hygiene ratings mean:
💡 0 - Urgent improvement is required
💡 1 - Major improvement is necessary
💡 2 - Some improvement is necessary
✅ 3 - Hygiene standards are generally satisfactory
✅ 4 - Hygiene standards are good
⭐ 5 - Hygiene standards are very good
Learn more about each food hygiene rating in detail below:
FSA score: 0 to 15 points
This rating is given to food establishments that demonstrate excellent hygiene standards and a strong commitment to food safety. These businesses have excellent control procedures in place, the staff is well-trained, and there is a thorough management system for monitoring and maintaining hygiene practices. A rating of 5 indicates that the establishment has applied comprehensive food safety measures.
FSA score: 20 points
A rating of 4 is assigned to food businesses that display good hygiene standards. The premises have satisfactory hygiene controls and practices in place, and compliance with food safety regulations is generally met. Although there may be minor areas for improvement, the establishment takes appropriate steps to ensure safe food handling and maintains a reasonable level of cleanliness and hygiene.
FSA score: 25 to 30 points
This rating is given to food establishments that meet the minimum legal requirements for food hygiene. While there may be some areas where improvements are needed, the premises generally manage food safety risks adequately. The rating of 3 signifies that the business is satisfactory in terms of hygiene practices but might require SOME adjustments to ensure full compliance with food safety regulations.
FSA score: 35 to 40 points
A rating of 2 is given to food businesses that need to make significant improvements in meeting food hygiene standards. These establishments may have several areas of non-compliance, such as poor cleanliness, inadequate training of staff, or insufficient control measures to prevent food contamination. While the premises may not pose an immediate risk, urgent changes are essential to promote a safer environment for handling and serving food.
FSA score: 45 to 50 points
Food hygiene rating of 1 is assigned to food establishments that have failed to meet adequate food hygiene and safety standards. This rating suggests a serious breach of food safety regulations. The premises may have a lack of basic cleanliness, improperly stored or prepared food, or inadequate pest control measures. These businesses need to make urgent and substantial improvements to address the identified deficiencies.
FSA score: 50+ points
This rating implies that the food business has failed to meet baseline hygiene standards and immediate improvements are required. It indicates serious breaches in hygiene practices and poses a risk to public health. Customers should avoid establishments with this rating until the necessary improvements are made.
The local authorities are responsible for carrying out inspections and, according to FSA, have the right to visit your premises at any reasonable time, meaning they will visit the food establishment. The frequency of their visits will depend on the type of business and its previous results (FSA).
For a new business,
To receive your food safety rating, an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) will visit your premises to carry out a hygiene inspection. EHO’s focus on the following 3 areas:
Make sure you're EHO-ready with Trail, check out our guidance for independents and multi-site managers on how to prepare for an EHO visit, or get ready for your visit with our food safety monitoring system.
If you perform well in all three areas, you will be awarded the top score. Here are some simple steps you can follow to ensure your business achieves “scores on the doors” greatness:
Take the following measures to ensure cross-contamination doesn’t occur during food prep:
Your food storage system should keep raw foods and ready-to-eat foods completely separate:
This one might seem obvious, but regular and thorough cleaning is vital for a top food hygiene rating:
Training staff on how to safely prepare food can reduce the risk of contamination. Training should include:
Even if you carry out all of the above steps, you won’t receive a top food hygiene rating unless you maintain a secure record, so you need the following:
All of the above can be quite hard to remember. We get it. But don’t worry, we have a library full of food safety tasks to help you stay on top.
Even with the best intentions, paper checks, spreadsheets, and email chains can make it hard to know exactly what’s being done on-site every day. Especially if you manage your team remotely.
Trail takes the guesswork (and the paperwork) out of your day with food safety templates for you and your team. Simple digital tasks are assigned to teams throughout their day. And your business gets a daily performance score. So you can resolve any problems and improve your food hygiene rating before your next EHO inspection.
✅ Perfect record keeping – Trail is a complete historical record of all activity, time and date stamped with evidence attached where needed.
✅ Build the right habits – Trail tells the right person at the right time what needs doing, so good hygiene becomes second nature, so when the next inspection comes around, the staff is ready to help you achieve a rating of 5.
✅ Visibility – Daily reports and scores give managers peace of mind that everything is being done correctly.
✅ Improve staff knowledge – Tips, videos and guides can be added to any task to make sure they are always completed correctly.
✅ Boost your food hygiene rating score – Turn any actions from your previous inspections into daily tasks to make sure you get a top food hygiene rating at the next inspection. With Trail, it is easy to implement corrective measures and future-proof your operations to achieve a coveted 5-star food hygiene rating. Say goodbye to sleepless nights worrying about potential hygiene breaches, and say hello to a seamless and foolproof system that will elevate your business to new heights.
Discover even more ways Trail can help you level up your compliance.
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