Report a problem with a food hygiene rating as a consumer
Published 1 July 2018
Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-a-food-problem/report-a-problem-with-a-food-hygiene-rating-as-a-consumer
1. You can’t find a food business’s rating on the website
If you can’t find the food hygiene rating (Opens in a new window)for a business you are interested in:
- check if you have spelt the name correctly
- if the business may be known under a different name, try searching by this name
- omit any commas in the address or add the street name, town or postcode
- try searching with the first part of the postcode only as for businesses registered at a private address only limited information is published
If you still can’t find any information, contact the local authority responsible for inspecting that business.
2. Online rating is different to a rating sticker
There may be valid reasons why an online food hygiene rating (Opens in a new window)may be different to a rating displayed at the business temporarily, such as:
- the business has appealed its latest rating and awaiting the result
- the local authority is in the process of uploading the new rating to our website
Even if a business achieves the top rating, there can be a short delay while the local authority updates the website. Local authorities upload ratings at least every 28 days.
3. Business is deliberately displaying a higher rating
If you are concerned that a business is deliberately displaying a higher rating to the one on the website to suggest it has higher hygiene standards than it actually does, you should contact the local authority.
Find the local authority details by searching for the business in the food hygiene ratings search tool.