Food Hygiene Rating
Scheme
Food hygiene ratings for individual premises in the South
Lakeland district are available at www.food.gov.uk/ratings
Introduction
South Lakeland District Council launched the scheme on
1st April 2012 with the hygiene rating applied to
inspections undertaken since 1st April 2009. This has enabled
over 900 businesses to participate from day one.
This is a national scheme run in partnership with the Food
Standards Agency (FSA). The scheme provides consumers with
information about hygiene standards in food premises at the time
they are inspected by local authority food safety officers to check
compliance with legal requirements – the food hygiene rating given
reflects the inspection findings. The objectives are as
follows:
For Businesses
• The scheme will be a good advertisement for businesses that
comply with food hygiene law - good food hygiene rating is good for
business.
• It's already a legal requirement for businesses to meet hygiene
regulations.
• Having the six different ratings gives businesses room to
improve.
For Consumers
• The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme enables you to make an informed
choice about where you choose to eat out or shop for food, as it
gives you an idea of what's going on in the kitchen, or behind
closed doors.
• You can view the rating of the place where you choose to eat or
shop by checking the sticker in the window, the certificate on
display inside the premises or by going to the www.food.gov.uk/ratings
How are the ratings worked out?
After a premises has been inspected an overall number rating,
from zero (the worst) to five (the best) is awarded, based on food
standards found at the time of inspection in the following three
areas:-
• Compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures.
• Compliance with structural requirements.
• Confidence in management control/procedures.
The rating does not reflect the quality of food or the standard
of service provided to customers.
Safeguards for food businesses
In order to ensure that the scheme is fair to businesses, it has
been designed to include a number of safeguards. These are: an
appeal procedure; a ‘right to reply’, and an opportunity to request
a re-visit when improvements have been made in order to be
reassessed for a new rating. Information for food businesses about
these different safeguards is provided in the various documents
within the download list below.
Procedure Documentation
Forms
Search for food hygiene ratings
Search the ratings for South Lakeland District Council
on the national food hygiene ratings website by visiting
the FSA website.
Contacts:
Address: Public Health & Licensing, South Lakeland
House, Lowther Street, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4UD
Email: dehcrm@southlakeland.gov.uk
Telephone: 0845 050 4434