Prepare for a food hygiene inspection

Guide summary

Show your authorisation request: ask to see the officer's identification before you answer questions
Keep your Safer Food, Better Business diary filled in every day, or your HACCP plan and monitoring records
Keep a record of staff training completed, to show at inspection
Be able to identify your food suppliers and the businesses you supply
Set fridges to 5°C or below and hold hot food at or above 63°C unless it is served straight away
Appeal your rating in writing within 21 days of being notified if you think it is unfair or wrong
Appeal to the court against a hygiene improvement notice within one month of service, or sooner if the notice says
Keep staff with diarrhoea, vomiting or infected wounds or sores away from food handling

Food hygiene inspections are usually unannounced. Officers are there to help you keep food safe, and any business can reach the top rating. A weak area on any of the three things they score pulls your rating down, so keep your records and premises inspection-ready every day.

What to expect during a food hygiene inspection

How a local authority food hygiene inspection in England is scored, how the score becomes a Food Hygiene Rating Scheme rating, how often you are inspected, and what happens afterwards.

Food safety officers from your local authority inspect food businesses to check that they comply with food hygiene law. Authorised officers have a right of entry at all reasonable hours, and need not give notice, although admission to premises used only as a private dwelling-house cannot be demanded as of right without 24 hours' notice. Officers must show their authorisation if asked.

The officer checks three elements: how hygienically food is handled, the physical condition of the premises, and how you manage food safety. Each is given a score under the intervention rating scheme in the Food Law Code of Practice (England). The scores decide your Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) rating and how often you are inspected.

Food hygiene and safety procedures score: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 (lower is better)
Structure score: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 (lower is better)
Confidence in management score: 0, 5, 10, 20 or 30 (lower is better)
Highest possible total: 80

How scores become a rating

The total of the three scores, and the highest single score, decide your rating:

Rating 5 (very good): total 0 to 15, and no score above 5
Rating 4 (good): total 20, and no score above 10
Rating 3 (generally satisfactory): total 25 to 30, and no score above 10
Rating 2 (some improvement necessary): total 35 to 40, and no score above 15
Rating 1 (major improvement necessary): total 45 to 50, and no score above 20
Rating 0 (urgent improvement necessary): total above 50

If one score is higher than the limit for your total, the rating drops to the first rating where it no longer exceeds the limit.

Category A: Score 92 or higher; inspected at least every 6 months
Category B: Score 72 to 91; at least every 12 months
Category C: Score 52 to 71; at least every 18 months
Category D: Score 31 to 51; at least every 24 months
Category E: Score 0 to 30; at least every 36 months
Basis of the category: Potential hazard, level of current compliance and confidence in management

Confidence in management

Officers judge the likelihood of compliance being maintained. They look at your track record and complaint history, your willingness to act on previous advice, the attitude of management, your food safety knowledge including hazard analysis, and whether you have satisfactory food safety management procedures. Documented procedures based on HACCP principles are expected in proportion to the nature and size of the business, and records need not be burdensome for very small businesses.

Right of entry: Food Safety Act 1990, section 32; Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, regulation 16
Samples: Officers may buy or take samples of food, food sources and contact materials (regulation 14)
Hygiene improvement notice: Written notice requiring measures within a period of at least 14 days (regulation 6)
Hygiene emergency prohibition notice: Immediate prohibition where the health risk condition is met, with a court order to follow (regulation 8)
Seizure of food: Food that fails food safety requirements can be seized (Food Safety Act 1990, section 9)
Prosecution: Fine on summary conviction; up to 2 years in prison, a fine or both on indictment (regulation 19)

After the inspection

The officer explains the findings and any actions needed. You are then told your rating in writing and what you can do about it:

Appeal in writing within 21 days of being notified, if you think the rating is unfair or wrong. The appeal is reviewed by the lead officer for food or a designated deputy, not the officer who gave the rating
Use your right to reply at any time before your next inspection, to explain improvements or unusual circumstances. It is published alongside the rating
Ask for a re-rating inspection once you have made the improvements recommended, if you did not get a rating of 5. Some local authorities in England charge a fee

A rating of 5 is published on the food hygiene ratings website as soon as the local authority uploads it. Ratings of 0 to 4 are published 3 to 5 weeks after the inspection to allow time for an appeal. In England you are encouraged, but not required, to display your rating.

Keep your records ready every day

Officers ask to see your records on the day, so keep them complete and to hand.

Your food safety management system up to date: the Safer Food, Better Business diary filled in every day, with opening and closing checks and a completed 4-weekly review, or your HACCP plan and its monitoring records
A note of each problem and what you did about it
Allergen information for the food you sell, and staff trained to manage allergies

Food Safety Record Keeping Requirements

What the law requires you to keep as food safety records, how long the SFBB diary is kept, and the traceability duty.

Your food safety management system must be supported by documents and records that are proportionate to the nature and size of your business. You must provide the competent authority with evidence that you comply with the HACCP duty in the way it requires, keep the documents describing your procedures up to date, and retain other documents and records for an appropriate period. The law sets no fixed retention period. Failing to do these things is an offence under the food hygiene regulations.

If your business is involved in a food safety incident, you will need to show your records as evidence of how you keep food safe.

Records required: Documents and records proportionate to the nature and size of the business
Retention period: An appropriate period; no fixed period in law
Evidence of compliance: Provided to the competent authority in the way it requires
Procedure documents: Kept up to date at all times
SFBB diary: Daily opening and closing checks, problems or changes, and extra checks
SFBB diary retention: Until your next visit from a local authority food safety officer
Staff training: Keep a record of training completed, to show at inspection
Traceability: Be able to identify your suppliers and the businesses you supply

Templates for records

The Food Standards Agency provides document templates for most food safety practices, including cleaning, maintenance, pest control, chemical records, staff training, staff hygiene and staff health and sickness.

Traceability

Food businesses must be able to identify anyone who supplied them with food or an ingredient, and have systems to identify the businesses they have supplied. This information must be made available to the competent authorities on demand. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 sets no retention period for traceability records.

Check your premises before you open

Walk round as if you were the officer. These are the points the law sets and that inspectors look at first:

The premises are clean and in good repair, with pests kept out and windows that open fitted with removable insect screens where necessary
Floors, walls, doors and surfaces where food is handled are sound, smooth and easy to clean and disinfect
Handwashing basins are kept for cleaning hands, with hot and cold running water, soap and hygienic drying
Cleaning products and disinfectants are stored away from areas where food is handled
Raw and ready-to-eat food are kept apart, with separate equipment
Fridges are set to 5°C or below and hot food is held at or above 63°C unless it is being served straight away, with the checks recorded
Staff who have diarrhoea, vomiting or infected wounds or sores are kept away from food handling

During the visit

Ask to see identification, then answer questions openly and show the records requested. If you know something is not right, say what you are doing about it: the officer is judging how far they can rely on you to keep standards up. At the end the officer explains the findings and what you need to do.

If you receive a notice

You can appeal to the court against a hygiene improvement notice within one month of service or, if shorter, within the period the notice gives you. The business will be revisited to check the work is done, so keep photographs, receipts and updated records as evidence.

Where there is an imminent risk of injury to health, the officer can serve a hygiene emergency prohibition notice that stops a process, equipment or the use of the premises. The council must then apply to the court for an order within 3 days or the notice lapses, and must issue a certificate lifting the prohibition within 3 days of being satisfied that you have fixed the problem.

Legal basis

Primary legislation and key regulations

Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 Primary 2013 · Wales Food Safety Act 1990 Primary 1990 · UK-wide Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 SI 2013 · England Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006 Welsh SI 2006 · Wales The Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 Scottish SI 2006 · Scotland The Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 NI SR 2006 · N. Ireland Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (Food hygiene) EU Retained 2004 · UK-wide Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (General Food Law) EU Retained 2002 · UK-wide

Browse UK legislation legislation.gov.uk

Official guidance

Safer Food Better Business packs (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England and Wales

Food hygiene for your business (opens in a new tab)

FSA

Food hygiene ratings for businesses (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Food hygiene ratings (opens in a new tab)

FSA

Food Standards Scotland: CookSafe (opens in a new tab)

Publication · www.foodstandards.gov.scot · Scotland

Food safety responsibilities (GOV.UK) (opens in a new tab)

FSA

Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS): guidance for businesses (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Safer food, better business (SFBB) (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England and Wales

Guidance on implementation and operation of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme: the brand standard and statutory guidance (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Managing food safety (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Food and Feed Codes of Practice (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Managing food safety (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

HACCP Principle 7: Documentation and record keeping (opens in a new tab)

FSA

Food incidents, product withdrawals and recalls (opens in a new tab)

FSA · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Prepare for a food hygiene inspection

Keep your records ready every day

Check your premises before you open

During the visit

If you receive a notice

Legal basis

Official guidance

Related guides in Food Business Registration

Set up a HACCP-based food safety system

Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

Train your staff in food safety

Allergen information requirements

Food traceability, withdrawal, and recall