What an EHO inspection checks and how to get a 5 rating
An EHO inspection is an unannounced council check on food hygiene law. See the three scored areas, how scores become a 0-5 rating, and how to appeal.
EHO inspection guide for UK food businesses
An EHO inspection is a council food safety visit to check that your business complies with food hygiene law. For businesses covered by the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, three scores determine a rating from 0 to 5 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: food handling, premises and food safety management (FSA guidance).
Who the EHO is and when they turn up
EHO means Environmental Health Officer. The inspector is an authorised council officer, usually an EHO or a Food Safety Officer, not a Food Standards Agency inspector (FSA, Starting a food business).
Officers "will usually arrive without making an appointment", can enter at any reasonable time, and must show identification before they start. Home-based businesses are the exception: the visit is arranged in advance (GOV.UK).
New businesses don't book the first visit. Registering with the council notifies the food safety team, and some new sites wait several months (GOV.UK).
What the EHO checks: the three scored areas
The FSA lists the three elements of a food hygiene inspection (FHRS guidance for businesses):
- How hygienically food is handled: preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.
- The physical condition of the business: cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities.
- How you manage food safety: your processes, training and systems.
The officer also looks at records and procedures, and may take or photograph food samples (GOV.UK). The rating leaves out food quality, customer service, and presentation and culinary skill. In Great Britain the legal baseline is Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II: premises, equipment, waste, water, personal hygiene, temperature control and training (legislation.gov.uk).
What confidence in management means
The Code of Practice sets out what feeds the confidence in management score (Code of Practice, Annex 1):
- your track record and complaint history
- whether you acted on previous advice and enforcement
- management's attitude to hygiene and food safety
- hygiene knowledge, including hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP)
- whether your food safety management procedures are satisfactory
HACCP paperwork is judged in proportion to the business, and very small businesses get flexibility on records (Code, Annex 1). But a folder that staff do not follow cannot count as satisfactory. The officer should also look at cross-contamination, including allergens when you prepare food for someone with an allergy or intolerance (FHRS Brand Standard, Revision 8).
Small businesses in England and Wales can use the FSA's Safer Food, Better Business pack as their system. Northern Ireland businesses use Safe Catering.
A food hygiene inspection checklist built from FSA guidance
Use this food hygiene inspection checklist, taken from the FSA's premises guidance, the three inspection elements and the Code's management criteria:
- enough washbasins for everyone to wash their hands
- changing facilities where staff need them
- adequate ventilation, lighting and drainage
- floors and walls in food areas in good condition, smooth, hard wearing, washable and easy to clean
- food prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored with temperature control, and cross-contamination controlled
- a food safety management system, such as SFBB, filled in and followed
- allergen cross-contamination controlled when you prepare food for someone with an allergy or intolerance
- staff trained in food hygiene
How EHO scores become a rating
Lower scores are better. Food handling and structure are scored 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25. 0 is high compliance, 5 is good with only minor contraventions, and 25 is almost total non-compliance (England Food Law Code of Practice, Annex 1, 23 October 2025).
The total and your worst single score together set the rating (Brand Standard, Table 3):
| Total score | No single score above | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 0-15 | 5 | 5 Very good |
| 20 | 10 | 4 Good |
| 25-30 | 10 | 3 Generally satisfactory |
| 35-40 | 15 | 2 Improvement necessary |
| 45-50 | 20 | 1 Major improvement necessary |
| Over 50 | n/a | 0 Urgent improvement necessary |
If one score breaks the cap, the rating drops to the band where it no longer exceeds it. Worked examples: 5, 5, 5 is a 5, but 0, 5, 10 is a 4, and 5, 5, 20 is a 1 (Brand Standard, Table 4).
How to get a 5 star food hygiene rating
Score 5 or better on every element, and 15 or less in total. The Brand Standard says any business should be able to reach the top rating because it "requires basic compliance with food hygiene law". A rating follows an inspection, partial inspection or audit only, not documents or a self-assessment. Newsagents, chemists and visitor centres selling pre-wrapped goods that need no refrigeration, plus childminders and caring services at home, are inspected but not rated (FHRS guidance).
How often EHOs inspect
Visit frequency depends on the food, the customers (vulnerable groups count), the processes and the last result: every six months at the highest risk, every two years at lower risk, and longer for some very low-risk businesses (FHRS guidance). The Code's risk categories A to E that set these intervals are not your 0-5 rating.
Councils should do a follow-up check when hygiene or structure scores 15 or more, or confidence in management scores 20 or more (Code of Practice, section 6.4.1.1).
After the visit: the EHO report and enforcement
You are told the rating and the reasons in writing at the inspection or within 14 days, including weekends and public holidays. A 5 is published once uploaded. Ratings of 0 to 4 wait 3 to 5 weeks. England and Wales let you ask in writing for earlier publication. Northern Ireland does not (FHRS guidance). The letter lists the improvements and a reasonable time to make them, unless there is an immediate risk to public health (GOV.UK).
In England, if an officer has reasonable grounds to believe you are failing the Hygiene Regulations, a hygiene improvement notice under regulation 6 of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 states the failures, the measures and at least 14 days to comply. Failing to comply in that time is an offence (reg 6). Days on a court appeal do not count (reg 24). Where there is an imminent risk of injury to health, a hygiene emergency prohibition notice can stop a process, the premises or equipment, and it lapses if the council does not apply to court within three days (reg 8). Wales and Northern Ireland have their own notice rules.
Appeal, right to reply or re-rating
Talk to the officer first. If you still think the rating is wrong, appeal in writing within 21 days of notification, weekends and public holidays included, to the council's lead officer for food. Wales requires the standard form. England and Northern Ireland accept a form, letter or email. The lead officer, their deputy, or a lead officer from another council reviews it, never the inspecting officer, and replies within 21 days of receipt. The site shows "awaiting publication" until then. A council complaint, the Local Government Ombudsman (England and Wales), the Public Services Ombudsman (Northern Ireland) or judicial review does not stop publication (FHRS guidance).
A right to reply lets you send written comments to the inspecting officer at any time before the next inspection. They are published beside the rating. The council can edit remarks that are offensive, defamatory, clearly inaccurate or irrelevant (FHRS guidance).
You can request a re-rating only if you did not get a 5. Accept the rating, make every improvement the officer asked for, and send evidence such as receipts or photographs. The council can refuse a request without enough evidence. The officer looks at standards generally, so the rating can go up, stay the same or go down.
In England some councils charge, and you are not told a date or time. With no charge you get one re-rating between planned inspections, usually not in the first three months, though the council may come sooner if you only had to make structural repairs or upgrade equipment. Ask in those three months and you can expect the visit within six months of the inspection. A later request, or any paid request, should be visited within three months. Charging councils set no limit on requests.
In Wales and Northern Ireland every council charges a statutory fee, with no limit on requests and a visit within three months of the written request. Any appeal must be resolved first, and the current sticker must be on display (FSA re-rating guidance).
Sticker display is voluntary in England and required at or near each customer entrance in Wales and Northern Ireland (FHRS guidance). Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme instead: Pass or Improvement Required, a 14-day appeal and one re-visit between inspections, currently free (FSS safeguards).
RegAffairs AI gives a cited answer on what an EHO checks and how to appeal.