Published on 1st March 2011

All six local authorities in Gloucestershire have now adopted the Food Standards Agency's Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

From Tuesday 1 March 2011, environmental health services in Cheltenham, Cotswolds, Gloucester, Stroud and Tewkesbury will display the results of food hygiene inspections on a national website. The Forest of Dean District Council will display their data soon.

The new national scheme will replace the successful 'scores on the doors' initiative which has been running in the county for several years. The new scheme will be consistent with other local authorities and will be cheaper to run. Gloucestershire authorities are early adopters of the scheme but the FSA is urging all local authorities in England to publish information in the same way.

When Cheltenham Borough Council's food safety officers inspect restaurants and food shops they score them against a number of important criteria such as cleanliness, food hygiene practices and food safety management. The scores are used to determine the food hygiene rating for the business from 0 to 5, 5 means standards were very good and 0 means urgent improvements were required.

Councillor Klara Sudbury, cabinet member for housing and safety, said: "It is so important that our restaurants and food shops are managed to the best standards, and our officers work closely with them to ensure that this is the case.

"We know from experience that customers take an interest in how Cheltenham's food establishments are rated and we are confident that the adoption of the national scheme will build on the success of 'scores on the doors'."

The ratings give consumers an insight into the standard of food hygiene behind the scenes. The ratings for each business are displayed on-line  and businesses are able to display a certificate and window sticker on the premises.

This website provides everyone with important information about the standards of hygiene observed by inspectors at the time of their last inspection. If things have changed since then, food business operators can add comments to the web site and, if significant improvements have been made, may request a re-inspection after three months.


The website is simple to use, just go to www.food.gov.uk/ratings click on 'search for hygiene ratings', and enter the search criteria. You can enter as much or as little information as you like including just part of the name, part of the address, the type of food business, etc. The website will then display the hygiene ratings (5 being the highest). A more advanced search facility is also available, which can search for types of food business or businesses with a particular hygiene rating. You can also search within just your council; or indeed within any other council in the UK that has joined the scheme.


For press enquiries, contact: Katie Sandey, communications team leader, telephone 01242 775050 or email: [email protected]