What is the food hygiene rating scheme?
The food hygiene rating scheme is run by us in East Hampshire, in partnership with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as part of their national scheme.
Its aim is to provide customers with at-a-glance information about the hygiene standards in food businesses, so that customers can make informed choices about where to buy and eat food.
Businesses covered by the scheme
The scheme covers a range of businesses where customers can eat or buy food. This includes:
- Restaurants
- Takeaways
- Cafes
- Sandwich shops
- Pubs
- Hotels
- Supermarkets and other shops selling food.
Businesses receive a rating sticker and are encouraged to display it.
How the rating is calculated
Following a food hygiene inspection by our food safety team, we will give the business a rating based on the standards of hygiene we find at the time. These include:
- How hygienically the business handles food - safe food preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.
- The condition of the structure of the premises - cleanliness, repair, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities.
- The management of the business including the management system and the records in place to make sure food is safe.
The rating
We rate the hygiene standards found at the time of inspection on a scale from '0' - this means urgent improvement is required to '5' - this means the hygiene standards are very good.
The rating shows how well the business does overall.
A business may do better in some areas than in others - the rating is designed to take this into account, including the areas that need the most improvement.
The rating is not a guide to the quality or value of the food the business prepares or sells.
Find food business hygiene ratings
The FSA publishes food hygiene ratings on its website where you can search for local businesses.
Safeguards
Businesses can request an appeal, a ‘right to reply’ and a re-visit inspection from us. Find out more about this process on the FSA website.
The relevant forms can be requested by contacting the officer who undertook the inspection. You can also request them by email: ehealth@easthants.gov.uk
Appeals
Before making an appeal, business owners or managers should contact the officer who carried out the inspection first to understand why the rating was given.
If the business owner or manager still thinks that the rating is unfair or wrong, they can appeal in writing to the authority using an appeals form.
- Food Hygiene Rating Scheme appeal form (word 148 kb)
Business’ right to reply
The right to reply allows the business to tell customers how the business has improved its hygiene standards or if there were unusual circumstances at the time of inspection.
This response will be published online, alongside the rating, by the local authority.
To make a right to reply, the business needs to complete a right to reply request form. Please note any request will be moderated before it’s publication.
- Food Hygiene Rating Scheme right to reply form (word 74 kb)
Request for a re-visit inspection
A food business owner or manager can request a re-visit to get a new rating when all the necessary hygiene improvements have been made.
Since the 1 April 2020 a fee to recover the costs of carrying out a revisit inspection now applies currently set at £202.
To request a re-inspection a request for a revisit form needs to be completed, once received and accepted your business will be sent an invoice which must be paid before the reinspection can take place.
- Food Hygiene Rating Scheme re-visit form (word 84 kb)
Scheme disclaimer
The food hygiene rating scheme is not an endorsement of current standards but reflects the rating we awarded at the time of the last inspection. The business may have made changes since then.
It may also take up to 28 days for the new rating to appear on the website after an inspection.