Regular inspections will be carried out if you are a food business. This is to help you comply with the food safety regulations.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) website has advice on how to meet the food safety regulations.
Inspections
Once you have registered your food business, we will carry out a regular inspection of your premises.
The frequency of these inspections depends on the:
- type of business
- standard of hygiene in the premises
Food sampling
Our enforcement of food hygiene legislation includes an element of food sampling to assist in the protection of public health and the food law enforcement functions of the authority.
Food sampling allows us to gather information about the quality and safety of food produced, handled and sold in the borough.
Food hygiene rating scheme
Each food business is given a star rating between 0 and 5 (5 being the best) on their food hygiene practices.
The food hygiene ratings are publicly available on the Food Standards Agency (FAS) website.
You will get a window sticker to promote your rating on your premises.
The rating scheme looks at:
- how hygienically the food is handled - safe food preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage
- the condition of the premises structure - cleanliness, repair, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
- how food safety is managed and documented - using a system such as Safer food, better business (SFBB) or Safe Catering
More information about the scheme is available on the Food Standards Agency website.
Appealing a decision
You can appeal our decision with the Food Standards Agency, if you do not agree with:
- our inspection results
- the food hygiene rating we have given