Appealing a food hygiene rating, and the two things that are not appeals

An appeal is about the past

Section 5 of the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 provides a right of appeal, and the equivalent exists across the scheme. It is for a rating you say was wrong at the moment it was given: the criteria applied incorrectly, or a fact recorded wrongly.

It is the only route that changes a rating on the basis that it should never have been that number, and it has a deadline that runs from notification. Not from when you saw the sticker, and not from when the rating appeared online.

A right to reply changes nothing, deliberately

Section 11 provides a right to reply. It publishes a short statement alongside your rating and does not alter the rating itself.

It is the right route where the rating was technically correct but something unusual was happening, and where a customer reading the number would genuinely benefit from the context. It is the wrong route if you think the rating is wrong, and using it in place of an appeal can consume the appeal window.

A re-rating is about the present

Section 12 provides for food hygiene re-ratings. This is a fresh inspection of the business as it is now, not a review of the earlier one.

It is the route for a rating that was fair when given and is no longer representative because the problems have been fixed. It is also the only one of the three with no deadline, because it depends on you being ready rather than on the calendar.

Choosing between them

Ask one question: was the inspector wrong, or were they right and things have changed since? Wrong then means appeal, and quickly. Right then and different now means re-rating, and when ready.

The right to reply sits alongside either. It is the only one of the three that is purely about how the rating reads to a customer rather than about what the rating should be.