Food hygiene rating for pubs: how the score is worked out, and how to get a 5

A food hygiene rating is worked out from three scores added together: how you handle food, the state of the building, and how much the officer trusts your management of food safety. Add them up, and a total of 15 or under, with no single score worse than 5, gets you a 5. So a 5 isn't about one spotless area. It's about having no weak one, and the paperwork is the one area you can fix without spending a penny.

Most guides on this are written by training companies selling a course. The scheme isn't complicated once you see the table the officer uses, and almost nobody shows it. Here's the table, what an officer looks at in a pub that does food, what to do if you get a bad one, and what a re-visit costs.

The three scores

The officer scores three areas at the inspection:

1. Hygienic food handling. Preparation, cooking, reheating, cooling and storage. Temperatures live here.
2. The structure. Cleanliness, repair, layout, lighting, ventilation and facilities. A cracked tile, a sink with no hot water, a broken fridge seal.
3. Confidence in management. Whether there's a food safety system in place, whether it's being followed, and whether the records show it. This is the one you control most cheaply.

Low scores are good. The scores are added up and the total, plus your worst single score, gives the rating.

How the three scores turn into a rating. Low is good. Source: council guidance on the national scheme.

Total of the three scores	Worst single score allowed	Rating	What it says on the sticker
0 to 15	5	5	Very good
20	10	4	Good
25 to 30	10	3	Generally satisfactory
35 to 40	15	2	Some improvement necessary
45 to 50	20	1	Major improvement necessary
Over 50	None	0	Urgent improvement necessary

The column people miss is the middle one. You can have a total that looks like a 5 and still get a 4, because one area scored 10. A beautiful kitchen with a diary nobody's touched since September is exactly how that happens.

What an officer looks at in a pub

The rating covers the whole food operation, and in a pub that's wider than the kitchen.

The things in a pub that tend to feed each score.

Score	In a pub, that's
Food handling	Chilled food at 8°C or below (set fridges at 5°C), hot food cooked through and held hot, cooling done properly, raw and ready-to-eat kept apart, use-by dates, the milk fridge by the coffee machine, the dessert or sandwich display
Structure	Clean and in good repair, a working hand-wash basin with hot water and soap, pest proofing, enough fridge space, ventilation, the cellar or store where dry food is kept
Confidence in management	A written food safety system based on HACCP (Safer Food, Better Business does this for most pubs), the daily diary filled in, opening and closing checks, temperature records, a probe that's been checked, allergen information, records of what food you buy and from whom, staff training

The legal side is short. You must have food safety procedures based on HACCP and write down what you do. The FSA's Safer Food, Better Business pack is the way most pubs meet it, and its minimum is the diary filled in every day plus a review every four weeks. I've covered the temperatures and the diary in detail in the fridge temperature log guide.

How to get to a 5

None of this costs much. Most of it is doing the boring bit every day.

• Make the paperwork match the building. The officer will read your diary and then look at the fridge. If the diary says 4°C every day in the same pen and the fridge says 9°C, that's worse than a gap. Real readings, real times, real initials.
• Fill in the "what we did" column. A reading that was out, with "moved stock to walk-in, called engineer" next to it, shows a system working. A log with no problems ever shows nobody's looking.
• Check the probe. Iced water should read between -1°C and 1°C, boiling water between 99°C and 101°C. Write the test down.
• Fix the small structural stuff before the visit, not after. A missing tile, a dripping tap, a fridge door seal. Cheap to fix, and the kind of thing that turns a 5 into a 4.
• Keep your invoices. You have to keep a record of the food you buy. If the delivery notes are going into a drawer for the officer, they might as well go into your stock figures too.
• Make sure whoever's on can answer. Officers can and do ask staff questions. "Where's the diary, what temperature should that fridge be, what do you do if it's over?" If the only person who knows is you and you're off, that's a confidence problem.

Two things I'd do that nobody mentions

Keep one inspection folder by the kitchen door. The diary, the temperature records, the probe checks, the allergen information, the pest control contract, the training certificates and the supplier list, all in one place. An officer who's handed one tidy folder in the first two minutes starts the visit with a different view of your management than one who waits while three people look for the diary.

Do a mock inspection on stocktake day. You're already in the kitchen counting. Take ten more minutes and go round with the three headings: handling, structure, management. Write down one thing for each. It's the cheapest bit of compliance in the building, and stocktake day already comes round on a schedule, so the check does too. The kitchen stocktake guide covers the count itself.

If you get a bad rating

You've got three rights, and they do different jobs.

Your options after a rating you don't like. Sources at the bottom.

Option	What it's for	Time limit and cost
Appeal	You think the rating didn't reflect what was found on the day	21 days, including weekends and bank holidays, from receiving the letter. Free. The lead officer for food should reply within 21 days
Right to reply	You want customers to see what you've done since, or explain circumstances on the day	Free. Your comments go next to the rating on the FSA ratings website
Request a re-visit	You've fixed the problems and want a new rating before the next planned inspection	Councils that don't charge usually allow one per planned inspection, after a three-month stand-still. Councils that charge do it within three months of payment: Stockport lists £197.63, Newcastle £240

Two warnings on the re-visit. It's unannounced, and the new rating can go up, down or stay the same. Don't ask for one until the fixes are done and the diary has a few weeks of honest entries in it. You'll need to send evidence of the improvements with the request, photos and invoices included.

At £2.45 gross profit on a £5.34 pint, a £240 re-visit is about 98 pints. Cheaper than a year with a 3 on the door, but cheaper still to get it right first time.

One more thing most people don't know. If you get a rating you're happy with, many councils let you waive the 21-day appeal period so the new rating shows on the FSA website straight away. If you've just gone from a 3 to a 5 and you sell food through delivery apps that show ratings, that's three weeks of the old score you don't need. The FSA publishes an early publication request form.

Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland

In Wales and Northern Ireland, displaying your rating where customers can see it is the law. In England it's voluntary, but the rating is published online whether you put the sticker up or not, so hiding it doesn't hide it. Scotland runs its own scheme, the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, where you get Pass or Improvement Required instead of a number.

My take

A food hygiene rating isn't a judgment on your cooking. It's a judgment on whether the officer believes you're in control on the days they're not there. The kitchen gets you most of the way. The diary, the folder and staff who know the answers get you the rest. If you only change one thing this week, make the paperwork honest and daily, because that's the score you can move without spending a penny.

Common questions

How is a food hygiene rating worked out?

The officer scores three things: how hygienically food is handled, the condition of the structure, and confidence in management, meaning your food safety system and records. The scores are added up. A total of 0 to 15 with no single score above 5 gets a 5. Higher totals, or one bad score, pull the rating down.

How do I get a 5 star food hygiene rating?

Score low in all three areas. In practice that means safe food handling and temperatures, a clean building in good repair, and a food safety system like Safer Food, Better Business that's filled in every day and matches what the officer sees. One weak area caps the rating even if the others are perfect.

Can I appeal my food hygiene rating?

Yes. You have 21 days, including weekends and bank holidays, from receiving the letter to appeal to the council's lead officer for food, who should reply within 21 days. An appeal is about whether the rating reflected what was found on the day, not about improvements made since.

How much does a food hygiene re-rating cost?

It depends on the council. Some don't charge and apply a three-month stand-still period first. Many do charge: Stockport lists £197.63 and Newcastle £240, and the unannounced re-visit then happens within three months of payment. Your rating can go up, down or stay the same.

Do pubs have to display their food hygiene rating?

In Wales and Northern Ireland, yes, it's the law. In England display is voluntary, though the rating is published online either way. Scotland runs a separate scheme with Pass or Improvement Required.