National food hygiene rating scheme

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is being run by Swindon Borough Council in partnership with the Food Standards Agency. The scheme provides consumers with information about the food hygiene standards in food outlets such as restaurants, pubs, cafés, takeaways, hotels, and other places where they eat out, as well as supermarkets and other food shops.

The scheme is important for food outlet businesses too. Food hygiene is getting easier to spot and a good food hygiene rating can help you keep your customers.

How the scheme works

Like the previous Scores on Doors Scheme, the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme helps you choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving you information about the hygiene standards in the food premises at the time they are inspected by one of the Councils' Environmental Health Officers. During the inspection, the food premises is checked to ensure that it is meeting legal requirements on food hygiene and is rated accordingly.

The different rating levels

Following an inspection, a food outlet business is awarded one of the following six ratings:

Rating display sticker/notice	Rating level	Description of rating
	Level 5	Very good
	Level 4	Good
	Level 3	Generally satisfactory
	Level 2	Improvement necessary
	Level 1	Major improvement necessary
	Level 0 (zero)	Urgent improvement necessary

Where the ratings will be published

All food hygiene ratings will be displayed on the Food Standards Agency website.

Your business will also be given a window sticker showing your rating. Although it is not currently mandatory, we encourage you to display this at your premises.

How to get a top food hygiene rating

All food businesses should aim to achieve a high rating. To achieve this you must be able to demonstrate a very good compliance with legal requirements for food hygiene. The level of compliance is assessed by the Environmental Health Officer when your business is inspected.

The rating is based on the level of compliance in three areas:

• How hygienically the food is handled – safe food preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.
• The condition of the structure of the premises – cleanliness, repair, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities.
• How food safety is managed and documented – using a system as the Food Standard Agency's Safer Food, Better Business pack or the Food Standard Agency's Safe Catering pack and the level of training of the staff

To get the best possible rating, you should:

• look at your last food hygiene inspection report to check that you've taken all of the actions needed to ensure that you meet legal requirements. If you can’t find your last report, contact us and we will be able to give you a copy. There is a small administration charge for a printed copy, please see the Build a Better Food Business webpage for details of all relevant costs.
• think, why wait for my next inspection. If you need advice on how to get a top food hygiene rating before your next inspection, see the Build a Better Food Business webpage for details on how to access expert advice from one of the Council’s Environmental Health Officers.

There are a number of services available to help you meet a high level of compliance and get a top food hygiene rating. See the Build a Better Food Business webpage for further details.

Demonstrating your compliance

Request a re-score

The business owner or manager can request a revisit to get a new rating when all the necessary hygiene improvements have been made. We charge a fee to recover costs for the revisit and businesses requiring a re-score can request one by submitting the online form below. In addition, it is necessary for evidence of improvement to be submitted at the same time and this can be in the form of photographs, documents, training certificates or anything that shows some work has been done to make the improvements. Businesses that have had an improvement notice served on them for hygiene matters cannot apply until after the notice has been formally complied by the inspecting officer.

All applications are reviewed and a re-score will be made where the application is granted and the fee paid. Businesses are not informed of the pending visit which will be carried out by the original inspecting officer to ensure consistency. However, businesses will be made aware of the potential for their food hygiene rating to increase, remain the same or in rare occasions go down.

There is no limit to the number of re-score requests that can be made by a business however, evidence to demonstrate improvements as advised by the inspecting officer must still be submitted. You will be asked to create a My Account in order to use this service:

Request a re-score

Food handling

You can maximise your rating by showing, for example, that:

• there are high standards of personal hygiene of staff, for example: clean over clothing (such as aprons), appropriate headwear, minimal jewellery and regular and appropriate hand-washing
• control measures are in place to prevent cross contamination, for example: the use of separate areas for handling raw and cooked foods, proper use of colour coded chopping boards, and correct use of appropriate cleaning chemicals
• foods are stored at the correct temperature, for example: food stored in refrigerators is maintained at less than 8°C and that the chill chain is protected
• foods are properly cooked, re-heated and cooled, for example: foods are cooked to 75°C or hotter and are checked visually for signs of thorough cooking, and foods are cooled quickly and as necessary refrigerated

Condition and structure of your premises

There should be:

• a suitable structure which is clean and in good repair throughout the premises
• adequate natural or artificial lighting
• adequate natural or artificial ventilation
• a structure proofed against pest entry

Managing and documenting what the business does

It is a legal requirement for food businesses to provide documentary evidence that the food they produce is safe.

This should:

• identify and show an understanding of the food safety hazards (microbiological, physical and chemical) within the business
• provide evidence that measures have been taken to effectively control these hazards and that these measures are reviewed as appropriate
• provide evidence that all food handlers are supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters in order that they produce food that is safe to eat

The Food Standards Agency has produced systems to help create a documented food safety management system.

These are:

• Safer Food Better Business, produced by the Food Standards Agency, England
• Safe Catering produced by Food Standards Agency, Northern Ireland
• Cook Safe, produced by Food Standards Agency, Scotland

You must put in place effective control and monitoring procedures at critical control points and it is recommended that you record your daily monitoring. You may find it useful to supplement your management system with the Safer Food Better Business - record sheets.

You can choose to use which ever system best fits your business, as long as it reflects the activities that you do. You may need to add some extra steps or checks to ensure everything is covered. If you handle foods which you do not feel are covered by these template systems, you are advised to discuss this with one of the Council’s Environmental Health Officers.

Safeguards for food businesses

In order to ensure that the scheme is fair to businesses, it has been designed to include a number of safeguards.

If you wish to take up any of the safeguards, please complete the appropriate form and send it to the email address on the inspection documents you received following the rating.

For rescore requests there is an online form linked above.

The safeguards are:

• Early publication of rating: You can apply to Swindon Borough Council, using the prescribed food hygiene rating scheme request for early publication of rating form, to have your rating appear before the end of the 21 day appeal period (ratings of 5 do not have an appeals period)
• Food hygiene rating appeal procedure: There is a right to appeal the food hygiene rating given following your inspection if you do not agree that the rating reflects the hygiene standards and management controls found at the time of the inspection. Please note: Appeals must made within 21 days from the date you are given your rating, using the prescribed food hygiene rating scheme appeal form.
• Food hygiene right to reply: The right to reply allows the business to tell customers how the business has improved its hygiene standards or if there were unusual circumstances at the time of inspection. The reply must be made using the prescribed food hygiene rating scheme right to reply form. The content of the reply will be reviewed by the council before a decision is made to publish it online alongside the rating.
• Food hygiene rating re-score

Information for food businesses about these different safeguards is provided on the Gov.uk website - food ratings.