Food hygiene rating scheme

You are here: Home | Life | Food safety | Food hygiene rating scheme

Food hygiene rating scheme

Have you ever wondered about the hygiene of a top restaurant's kitchen? Or how safely the pub grub you are about to tuck into was prepared before it reached your plate?

We think you have the right to know the food hygiene standards of food businesses, so we make results of food safety inspections publicly available.

From 1 March 2012 businesses in Brighton & Hove will start to be included in the national food hygiene rating scheme.

• Search Brighton & Hove food hygiene ratings
• See all Brighton & Hove premises included in the national food hygiene ratings scheme (this will take a few seconds to load).

This new scheme will build on the success of the Scores on the Doors pilot scheme. The national scheme will include more businesses. For example we will now inspect businesses serving less than 20 meals a day, such as small B&Bs and shops which sell wrapped food (although there will be some exemptions). After inspection these businesses will also get food hygiene ratings.

Food outlets are inspected by the Food Safety Team to check that their hygiene standards meet legal requirements. The standards found at these inspections are rated on a scale ranging from zero at the bottom (which means 'urgent improvement necessary') to a top rating of five ('very good').

Food businesses in the city will be given a sticker and certificate and encouraged to display these at the entrance to their premises to make customers aware of their standards. Customers can then use this information to choose if they want to buy food from the outlet.

Businesses that were previously included in our Scores on the Doors scheme have been given stickers and certificates for the new scheme.

The frequency of food safety inspections varies from every six months to three years. We decide the frequency of inspection by the risk posed by the food business. We use a nationally agreed scoring process to calculate this risk.

We will notify each premises of their rating in writing within 14 days of an inspection. Businesses can appeal and have a 'right to reply' to give their view on their food hygiene rating. Businesses can also request a re-visit if they have followed recommendations we have made to improve food hygiene.

If you are a food business operator and want to find out more about this process then please go to our Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Safeguards for businesses page.

Get answers to frequently asked questions about the national food hygiene ratings scheme.

If you have a concern about a food premises in the city go to our food complaints web page for more information.

Ahead of our change to the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme we will be mailing out letters with certificates and stickers to those businesses that fall within the scheme. There will be some businesses that will not be within the initial mail out, if you have not received your FHRS letter, please bear with us as the remaining businesses will get their letters over the next few weeks. If you wish to discuss this further then please contact us on the details at the end of the page.

If you have any queries about the national food hygiene ratings scheme then please follow the links above. If you feel your question is still unanswered please contact our Food Safety Team on (01273) 292161 or email ehl.food@brighton-hove.gov.uk.