How do food hygiene ratings work?
Food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland get a rating from 0 to 5 after a local authority food safety officer inspects them, under the Food Standards Agency's Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. 5 means hygiene standards are very good, 4 good, 3 generally satisfactory, 2 some improvement necessary, 1 major improvement necessary and 0 urgent improvement required.
The officer scores food handling, the condition of the premises and how food safety is managed. You can look up any rating on the FSA's ratings website. Scotland uses a separate Food Hygiene Information Scheme with Pass or Improvement Required results.
A rating is a snapshot from the date of the last inspection, shown on the sticker and online. It does not cover food quality, service or presentation.
When is the next figure out?
OSR does not run a fixed release calendar for letters: casework correspondence is published when a case concludes, often within days of a high-profile claim. The casework issues log is updated weekly, aiming for each Wednesday. The rolling regulatory work programme, which shows assessments and reviews in progress, is updated four times a year. During formal pre-election periods OSR can still intervene publicly, but only where a statement could significantly affect the debate presented to voters.
Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.
Where the figures come from
- UK Statistics Authority and Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR)Find UK Statistics Authority and OSR letters on how politicians and officials used statistics, search the casework log, and raise a concern yourself.
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This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about farming and food: all Farming and food questions.