Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
What is the Food Hygiene Rating
Scheme?
The food Hygiene Rating Scheme helps you
choose where to eat out or buy food by giving you easy to
understand information about the hygiene standards in the
business.
The scheme is run by local authorities in
England, in partnership with the Food Standards Agency.
The scheme was launched on the 8th
June 2011 during National Food Safety Week.
Which Businesses are given a
rating?
Restaurants, takeaways, cafes, sandwich shops,
pubs, hotels and supermarkets will be given a rating. Other,
lower risk food businesses will be brought into the scheme at a
later date.
How are the ratings
calculated?
Officers are required to inspect local food
businesses to make sure that all food is handled and prepared
safely. After the premises has been inspected, officers will
give a rating which ranges from zero (worst) to five (best).
The rating will be based on food safety standards found at the time
of the inspection. There are three areas that officers will
assess:
- How hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared,
cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored;
- The condition of the structure of the buildings – the
cleanliness, layout, lighting ventilation and other
facilities;
- How the businesses manages what it does to make sure food is
safe.
The rating given to the business does not
reflect the quality of the food or the standard of service provided
to customers.
What do the ratings mean?
A score of 5 means that the
conditions are very good 
A score of 4 means that the
conditions are good
A score of 3 means that the
conditions are generally satisfactory
A score of 2 means that
improvement is necessary
A score of 1 means that major
improvement is necessary
A score of 0 means that
urgent improvement is necessary
How do I look up the rating of a food
business in Bedford?
Ratings for food businesses in the Bedford
Borough Council area will be available as from the 8th June
2011.
Search for hygiene ratings in the Bedford Borough area
Where can I find out more information
about the scheme?
Further information is available from the
Food Standards
Agency
I have been inspected and have carried
out the improvements to hygiene that were required, can I request a
re-inspection?
You can ask for a re-inspection before your
next planned inspection so that the hygiene standards in your
premises can be re-assessed. The inspecting officer will look
at hygiene standards generally - not just the specific areas you
have been working to improve – so your hygiene rating may go down
as well as up. You can make a request for a re-inspection by
downloading the Re-inspection
Request Application Form
I am the owner of a food business and
think the rating I have been given is unfair or wrong
If you believe your rating is unfair or wrong,
you should speak to the inspecting officer so they can explain how
your rating was calculated.
If you still believe that your rating is
unfair or wrong, you have a ‘right to reply’. You will need
to tell the Council how the business has improved hygiene, or to
say that there were unusual circumstances at the time of the
inspection. The business will need to download the
Right to Reply
Form and send the completed form to the Commercial Regulation
Manager, Environmental Health and Trading Standards, Bedford
Borough Council, Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42
9AP. The businesses right to reply will be published on-line
with the businesses hygiene rating.
The business owner or manager can also appeal
in writing. To appeal, any business can download the
Appeal
Form and send it to the Commercial Regulation Manager,
Environmental Health and Trading Standards, Bedford Borough
Council, Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42 9AP within 14
days of being told what their rating is.
Download
FHRS Procedures for Re-inspection
Download FHRS
Right to Reply and Appeals Procedure