The national scheme is a Food Standards Agency (FSA) initiative to provide consumers with at-a-glance information about hygiene standards in food businesses found during planned inspections. The aim is to help them to make informed choices about where they eat out or shop for food.
Not all businesses are included in the scheme, just those that supply food directly to the public. Exempt businesses include:
- newsagents selling sweets only,
- chemist and gift shops that sell packaged biscuits and sweets
- childminders and other care providers
Find the rating for a food business
To find a rating for a business you can:
- Search for a business on the Food Standards Agency website
- Download the FSA Mobile app for FSA Mobile App for Android, FSA Mobile App for iPhone or FSA Mobile App for Windows 8
What the ratings mean
Each business participating is given a score between zero and five, based on their last inspection. The rating looks at compliance in three areas; food hygiene and safety procedures, structural requirements and confidence in management.
The scores themselves:
- 0 - Urgent improvement necessary
- 1 - Major improvement necessary
- 2 - Improvement necessary
- 3 - Generally satisfactory
- 4 - Good
- 5 - Very good
