Just had an inspection?
What the rating letter tells you, what you can do about the rating, and the deadlines that matter. Each point links to the Food Standards Agency's guidance for businesses on food.gov.uk, so you can check it at the source.
Start with the letter.
You're told in writing what your rating is and why, either at the inspection or within 14 days of it, weekends and public holidays included. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
If you didn't get a 5, the officer explains what you can do to improve it. If the rating is low, they also tell you how quickly the improvements have to be made, which depends on the issue. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
The rating is a snapshot of what the officer found on the day, on this scale: 5 very good, 4 good, 3 generally satisfactory, 2 some improvement necessary, 1 major improvement necessary, 0 urgent improvement necessary. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
The three things you were scored on.
- How hygienically food is handled: how it's prepared, cooked, reheated, cooled and stored.
- The physical condition of the premises: cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities.
- How you manage food safety: your processes, training and systems. This is what tells the officer how confident they can be that standards will be kept up.
To get a 5 you have to do well in all three. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk) If you want the detail of how the three scores add up to a rating, our guide to the scores goes through it.
When the rating goes public.
A 5 is published on the food hygiene ratings website as soon as your local authority uploads it. A rating from 0 to 4 is published 3 to 5 weeks after the inspection, to leave time for an appeal. In England and Wales you can ask your local authority in writing to publish it sooner. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
In Wales you must display the sticker at or near each customer entrance. In England, showing it is up to you. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
If you think the rating is wrong: appeal.
Talk to the officer who inspected you first, to understand how the rating was worked out. If you still think it's unfair or wrong, appeal in writing to your local authority's lead officer for food. In England that can be the FSA's form, a letter or an email. In Wales you must use the standard form. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
You have 21 days from being told your rating, weekends and public holidays included. While the appeal is open, the ratings website shows your rating as awaiting publication. The officer who rated you doesn't decide the appeal, and you're told the result within 21 days of your local authority receiving it. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
If it's fair but you want to say what's changed: the right to reply.
You can tell customers how you've improved, or about anything unusual on the day of the inspection. Send it in writing to the officer who inspected you, on the form or in a letter or email. There's no deadline: you can send it any time before your next inspection. Your local authority publishes it next to your rating, and may edit out anything offensive, defamatory, clearly inaccurate or irrelevant. It stays up until you're given a new rating. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
Once the work is done: ask for a re-rating visit.
If you didn't get a 5, you can ask for a re-rating inspection before your next planned one. You can ask once you've accepted the rating and made all the improvements the officer recommended. There's no deadline, but you can't choose when the officer comes. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
Put the request in writing to the officer who inspected you, on the form or in a letter or email. Say what you've done about each issue and include evidence, such as receipts or photos. Your local authority can refuse a request without enough evidence. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
Some local authorities in England charge for a re-rating visit. In Wales they all charge. Where there's a charge, send the payment with the request. In England, if your local authority doesn't charge, you get one re-rating visit between planned inspections. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
How soon the officer comes
- England, no charge, asked within three months of the inspection: not usually in those first three months, and within six months of the inspection. It can be sooner if all you had to do was structural repairs or new equipment.
- England, asked after three months, or where your local authority charges: within three months.
- Wales: within three months of your written request.
You're not told the date or time. The officer looks at standards generally, not just the things you've fixed, so the rating can go up, down or stay the same. You get the new rating in writing at the visit or within 14 days, and you can appeal it or add a right to reply as before. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
What to do this week.
- Put the appeal deadline in the diary: 21 days from when you were told the rating. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
- Go through the officer's comments one by one, and write down who is fixing each thing and by when.
- If anything in the letter isn't clear, ask the officer. The guidance says you can discuss anything you're unsure about with them. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
- Keep receipts and take dated photos as each job is done. They're the evidence a re-rating request needs. (FSA guidance, food.gov.uk)
- If you'd like customers to see what you've changed, draft your right to reply.
Where managero fits.
managero keeps your daily checks, temperatures and what was done when something went wrong, dated and named, on the team's phones. So the records are there when you need them, for a re-rating request or the next inspection. It doesn't decide your rating and can't promise one.
Rather see it first? Book a 15-minute walk-through.