Checking a food hygiene rating, and what the number does not tell you

Where it is published

Ratings for businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are published on the Food Standards Agency's ratings service, and released as open data alongside it.

That is why display being voluntary in England matters less than it sounds. The number is public whether or not it is on the door.

What is behind the number

Three elements: hygiene practices, the condition of the structure, and confidence in management. A single figure summarises all three, which is why two businesses with the same rating can be weak in quite different places.

Confidence in management is the element that behaves least like the others. It is about records, procedures and the history of compliance rather than about the state of the premises on the day.

It is a snapshot, with a date

A rating reflects the last inspection, and the interval between inspections is driven by risk rather than by a fixed calendar. A high-risk business is seen more often than a low-risk one.

So the date matters as much as the number. A 5 from four years ago and a 5 from last month are not the same statement, and the ratings service publishes the date alongside the rating.

A low rating is not always what it looks like

Ratings can be held down by structural items in an old building that have nothing to do with how food is handled, and they can be held up in premises that are new and clean but poorly run.

The right to reply exists precisely because context is sometimes missing from a number, and a business that has used it is telling you something worth reading.

Scotland is a different question

Scotland sits outside the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, so a Scottish premises does not carry a comparable 0 to 5 rating and cannot be compared like for like with one in England or Wales.

For a chain operating across the border, that means two separate positions rather than one, and it is a common source of confusion in reviews and listings.