I’ve had my inspection and received my rating, what are my options?

Food hygiene rating ‘right to reply’

You have a ‘right to reply’ if you want to have your say about your rating to your customers. This will be published with your hygiene rating on the Food Hygiene rating scheme website.

If you’d like to add a ‘right to reply’, please complete this right to reply form and return it to us.

Food hygiene rating re-inspection request

Businesses can ask for another inspection if improvements have been made which were raised at the previous inspection.

The re-inspection will be unannounced and will be a full food hygiene inspection looking at all hygiene and safety compliance – not just at the specific areas that had been raised previously. Therefore, the rating may go up, down or stay the same depending on the level of overall compliance seen during the re-inspection.

There is a charge for each re-inspection and there is no limit to the number of re-inspections you can apply for, however, we recommend all the improvements that have been raised are completed before you submit a request.
You can find out how much you will be required to pay for a re-inspection on our fees page.

Additionally, all requested re-inspections will be carried out within three months of receipt of the request and payment.

Please click here to apply for a re-inspection.

Appeal a food hygiene rating

You can appeal if you think your hygiene rating is wrong or unfair – in other words it does not fairly reflect the hygiene standards found at the time of inspection.

Before appealing, please contact our food safety team using the details below to understand why the rating was given.

If you still think the rating is unfair, you can appeal in writing us by completing and returning this appeal form to us.

During an appeal a senior officer who was not involved in the initial rating decision will review all documentation provided as part of the appeal and any notes and evidence that the inspecting officer had gathered during the inspection. The senior officer will then decide if the rating given was a fair and accurate reflection of conditions seen at the time of inspection.

During the time an appeal is being reviewed the food hygiene rating awarded will not be published on the rating scheme website until the appeal has been completed.

Early publication of ratings

The business owner can request that a rating is published before the end of the appeal period. This request must be made in writing, and you must include:

details of who you are
the name and address of the business
your contact information
the date of the inspection
the rating given

You can complete the early publication form and then email or write to us using the contact details below.

By requesting early publication, you are agreeing to have the rating published on the website before the time to appeal has elapsed.

How can I promote my food hygiene rating?

The Food Standards Agency has created a toolkit to help businesses promote their food hygiene rating. The tool kit includes imagery guidance, downloadable resources and banners you can use for your website.