Free tools / Hawk
Food hygiene rating checker. Before you eat, or order in.
Search any restaurant, takeaway, cafe, pub or food shop in the UK. You get its official rating, when it was inspected and the scores behind it, straight from the Food Standards Agency.
How food hygiene ratings work
Every business that serves or sells food in the UK is registered with its local council and inspected by a food safety officer. The officer checks how food is handled, stored and cooked, the condition of the building and equipment, and how the business manages food safety. The result becomes the rating you see on the sticker in the window and in this checker.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland use the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, from 0 to 5. Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, where a business either passes or needs improvement.
Reading the scores
The scores explain the rating. Each one counts problems found, so lower numbers are better. Food hygiene and building scores run from 0 to 25 and confidence in management from 0 to 30. A business with a 5 rating usually has scores of 0 or 5 in every area.
Show your rating on your website
Customers look for it, and a good rating is one of the simplest trust signals a food business can show online. Our free badge pulls your current rating from the FSA each day and links to the official record. If you also want a menu that works on a phone, online booking and a place on Google Maps, see our restaurant website design page.
Rating data from the Food Standards Agency, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This checker is not run by or connected to the FSA.
Questions
Where do the ratings come from?
From the Food Standards Agency's official open data. Local councils inspect restaurants, cafes, takeaways, pubs, shops and other food businesses in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the FSA publishes the results.
What do the ratings mean?
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland businesses get a rating from 0 to 5. 5 means hygiene standards are very good, 4 good, 3 generally satisfactory, 2 improvement necessary, 1 major improvement necessary and 0 urgent improvement necessary. Scotland uses a different scheme with Pass or Improvement Required.
What do the three scores mean?
Inspectors score food hygiene and safety, the structure and cleanliness of the building, and confidence in how the business manages food safety. Unlike the rating, a lower score is better: 0 means no problems were found in that area.
How often are businesses inspected?
It depends on the risk. A busy restaurant may be inspected every six months, a low-risk shop every two years or more. The date of the last inspection is shown with each result.
Can I put my rating on my website?
Yes. Find your business, then copy the badge code. The badge links to your official record on the FSA website and updates itself once a day, so it is always the current rating. In Wales and Northern Ireland businesses must already display their sticker at the premises.
My rating is wrong or old. What can I do?
Contact the food safety team at your local council, shown with your result. You can ask for a re-visit after making improvements, appeal within 21 days of being told the rating, or add a right to reply.
Want Hawk on this every day?
On Lupaan your whole team works in the background and tells you when something needs you.