What each number on the food hygiene rating in UK actually means as pub scores zero

When trying out a new restaurant, you ought to have scanned the menu, flicked through the reviews and weighed up the travel distance before making a booking. Oh, and don't forget to have a glance at the food hygiene rating.

It's a bright green badge of honour for some eateries with impeccable standards, but those at the lower end of the scale have some work to do in the eyes of the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The purpose of the government-led scheme, which operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is to help and protect customers from chowing down in a place which is unsanitary, unsafe and downright unappetising.

That's why the food hygiene rating - which people can browse on the business premises as well as online - was set up, to ensure that you are visiting restaurants, cafés, and other food shops without the fear of being unwell afterwards.

The rankings only go from 0 to 5, but have you ever wondered what each number actually means?

Well, one bloke has started to ponder the digits and sparked a social media conversation about the meaning after nearly dining at an establishment which had the worst food hygiene rating possible.

In a Reddit post, he fumed: "Went to a pub the other day and they had a 0 food hygiene rating. Who the f**k keeps a kitchen open after being awarded 0?"

Good question.

FSA

Basically, a food safety officer from the local authority turns up without warning to inspect the business and how it abides by food hygiene laws - especially how hygienically grub is handled, stored and prepared, the physical state of the business and how food safety is prioritised.

The restaurant is then rated on a scale of 0 to 5 and the owners are either given a pat on the back or an urgent warning that they need to buck their ideas up ASAP.

Five is obviously the top end of the scale and is awarded if the inspector gives a rating of between 0-15 points. It's the crème de la crème of kitchen cleanliness that all places should aspire to be like.

Or as the FSA puts it, 'hygiene standards are very good'.

Achieving a food hygiene rating of four means that the diner has a good outlook on keeping customers safe and preparing grub in a safe environment. Food safety officers must award you a total of 20 points to achieve this and think that the 'hygiene standards are good'.

A food hygiene rating of three brings us to the 'satisfactory' stage, which is handed to those who have earned between 25 and 35 points during their inspection.

Getty stock photo

There is stuff to work on, but the situation isn't super serious and can be fixed. The FSA say this ranking means ' hygiene standards are generally satisfactory'.

If the place you're grabbing lunch has got a rating of just two, this is where you should start getting worried. This suggests there may be significant issues with food safety practices or outdated equipment which raises concerns.

Restaurants will be given a score of 35 and 40 points during an inspection and warned by the FSA that 'some improvement is necessary' which needs to be sorted out promptly.

A rating of one is obviously even worse and means that 'major improvement is necessary', according to the FSA.

The eatery will have received a score between 45 and 50 points for reasons such as breaching several food hygiene rules or not correctly training staff to follow safe kitchen procedures. This is the big leagues, where it gets quite serious.

But if the place has got a food hygiene rating of zero, most people would run out of there immediately. Its been slapped with between 45 and 50 points and essentially doesn't seem to have a clue about how to keep a kitchen clean.

There are likely multiple breaches of food hygiene rules and a huge lack of training among staff, meaning 'major improvement is necessary'.

There is a timeline laid out explaining when these changes must be implemented by as well as advice for how to achieve this - unless it's that bad that it has to be shut down.

Put it this way, that bloke on Reddit made the right move dodging that pub.