Food Hygiene and Food Safety

Make an informed choice by asking ‘where’s the sticker’ if you don’t see one 

If you enjoy eating out, you should know that the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) makes a real difference in helping you to make a good choice.

When you’re choosing somewhere to eat for family and friends, you want to know that the business takes food hygiene seriously.

It’s much harder to change your mind once you’ve sat down. And no one likes unpleasant surprises when eating out or the social embarrassment of finding out the food business has poor food hygiene standards with a rating of only ‘’0’ (urgent improvement necessary) 1’ (major improvement necessary) or ‘2’ (improvement necessary’.

Checking the rating first, is one of the little things you should do for peace of mind and to help keep your loved ones safe.

The rating gives you an insight into the places you can’t see like the kitchen and means you can make an informed choice about where you eat, leaving you to concentrate on the other things that make for an enjoyable meal.

Check for the food hygiene rating first, simply look for the green and black rating sticker on the window or door and if you don’t see one, ask ‘where’s the sticker’.

What is the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme?

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme provides information about the food hygiene standards found by local authority food safety officers when they inspect food outlets to check they are meeting food hygiene law. This law is in place to protect peoples’ health.

If you can’t see the green and black sticker – you can ask or check the rating online! 

You don’t have to settle for poor hygiene standards. If the rating sticker is not on display, what does that tell you? So make sure the place you choose is taking food hygiene seriously. There’s ratings information online for over 440,000 food businesses and with over 93% having a rating of 3, 4 or 5 there’s plenty of choice.

It’s good for business too.

If you're running a food business, you should know that any food business, no matter how small, can achieve a top FHRS rating of 5 ‘very good’.

A good rating is something to be proud of, so display your sticker and don’t leave potential customers guessing how seriously you take food hygiene, or worse, assuming that you have something to hide.

Many businesses that are already displaying their rating at their premises say it has made a difference by improved reputation, increased customer confidence and more customers.

The FHRS campaign encourages people, when eating out or buying food, to look for the green and black rating sticker and have peace of mind that they are making a responsible choice in keeping their family and friends safe. So don’t miss out, make sure you display your sticker in the window or door for customers to see.

You can use your rating in other ways to help improve business, such as including it on promotional materials like menus or advertising leaflets. You can find out more at here