Do businesses have to display their food hygiene rating?
It depends where in the UK the business is. In Wales and Northern Ireland the rating must be shown by law. In England and Scotland it’s voluntary. Either way the result is published online, apart from a few premises that are deliberately left out, so you can check almost any business in seconds.
The display rules in each country
The green-and-black sticker has to be shown in some parts of the UK but not others.
Scotland runs a separate scheme and uses a Pass or Improvement Required result instead of a 0–5 score. See how the two schemes differ
When a rating appears online
A rating doesn’t always go live the moment an inspection ends. How quickly it publishes depends on the score:
- A 5 (very good) is published as soon as the council uploads it.
- A rating of 0 to 4 appears 3 to 5 weeks after the inspection.
The gap gives the business time to appeal a rating it believes is wrong before that rating goes public. A business in England or Wales can also ask its council to publish early. More on appeals and re-ratings
Online, delivery and takeaway orders
Ordering without setting foot in the premises makes the sticker easy to miss. The FSA encourages businesses to show their rating on their website and social media, though this isn’t compulsory anywhere in the UK.
Wales goes further for takeaways. Menus and leaflets must carry a bilingual statement that points customers to the ratings website and reminds them they have a legal right to ask the business for its rating when they order.
Showing your rating on your own website
If you run a food business, don’t paste a screenshot of your badge: if you’re re-inspected, an out-of-date rating on your site can be an offence under trading standards rules. Use a badge that updates itself instead. There are two easy options:
- From this site: find your business page here, open “Display this rating on your website” and copy the snippet. It’s a plain image link that always shows your current published rating and links customers to your full report, and it works on website builders that don’t allow scripts.
- From the FSA: find your business on the official ratings site and use its “Display this rating on your website” option for the official JavaScript widget.
What a missing or out-of-date sticker tells you
In England, no sticker doesn’t mean a poor rating, because showing it is optional. Plenty of good businesses simply never put one up. In Wales or Northern Ireland a missing rating is more unusual, since display is required there, so it’s worth a quick check. In every case the fastest answer is to search the business by name and read its current rating for yourself.
Common questions
Is it a legal requirement to display a food hygiene rating?
In Wales and Northern Ireland, yes. A business there must display its rating at or near each customer entrance. In England and Scotland, display is voluntary, so a business can choose whether to show its sticker.
Where should a food hygiene rating be displayed?
Where display is required, the rating has to go at or near each customer entrance, such as the front door or window, positioned so customers can read it before they go in.
Do online and takeaway businesses have to show their rating?
Showing a rating online is encouraged but not compulsory anywhere in the UK. In Wales, takeaway menus and leaflets must carry a bilingual statement pointing customers to the ratings website and noting their legal right to ask the business for its rating when they order.
Why is a new rating not showing online yet?
A rating of 5 is published as soon as the council uploads it. A rating of 0 to 4 appears 3 to 5 weeks after the inspection, which gives the business time to appeal before it goes public.