Working Rating Out

How the Rating Is Worked Out

Food Hygiene Ratings are assessed via routine food premises inspection visits (statutory inspections) which follow the "Food Law Code of Practice"

At the inspection, the Environmental Health Officer will allocate scores for:

• The level of compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures
• The level of compliance with structural requirements and,
• Confidence in management

These three scores will then enable the officer to rate the hygiene standards on a scale of 0-5. A score of 5 will be the highest level indicating very good standards of food hygiene and a score of 0 will indicate that urgent improvement is necessary.

How to Achieve the Highest Score

In order to achieve the best score possible, you will need to ensure your business meets the high standards in the following 3 areas:

• How hygienically the food is handled - how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
• The condition of the structure of the buildings - the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
• How the business manages and records what it does to make the food safe (a documented food safety management system based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control point)

Most businesses require a fully documented food safety management system and need to show that it is being operated effectively. If you do not have a fully documented system, then you may only reach a score of 1 out of a possible 5.