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Food hygiene ratings and food allergies

Published 22 October 2026

A food hygiene rating is a snapshot of hygiene standards at a local authority inspection. It is not a decision that a dish is suitable for your allergy. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme gives a number from 5 to 0. In Scotland the Food Hygiene Information Scheme uses Pass or Improvement Required.

What the 0 to 5 rating measures

The Food Standards Agency runs the scheme with local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A food safety officer inspects the business to check that it follows food hygiene law. Three things are checked: how hygienically the food is handled, how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored; the premises, including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities; and how food safety is managed, through processes, training and systems, so the officer can judge whether standards will be maintained.

• 5 means hygiene standards are very good.
• 4 means hygiene standards are good.
• 3 means hygiene standards are generally satisfactory.
• 2 means some improvement is necessary.
• 1 means major improvement is necessary.
• 0 means urgent improvement is required.

A 5 means the standards are very good and fully comply with the law, and the business has to do well on all three elements to get it. The sticker and the online rating show the inspection date. The time between inspections runs from six months for the highest risk businesses to two years for lower risk ones, and longer for some very low risk businesses. Methods other than inspection may be used, so that date may not be the latest check.

What a rating does not say about an allergy

The scheme does not provide information on the quality of the food, customer service, culinary skill, presentation or comfort.

In a written answer in its March 2025 board papers, the Food Standards Agency says that providing allergen information falls under a food standards inspection and does not form part of a food hygiene rating. A hygiene inspection should still consider allergen cross-contamination, as part of the food safety management system, when the rating is worked out.

The number is not the list of the 14 allergens UK restaurants must declare, and it does not say that peanut is absent from this plate. A 5 is not clearance to order. Some low-risk businesses are inspected and given no rating, such as a newsagent selling pre-wrapped goods that do not need refrigeration.

Scotland uses Pass and Improvement Required

Scotland does not use 0 to 5. Pass means the business meets the legal requirements for food hygiene. Improvement Required means it did not, and needs to improve. Exempt Premises met the pass criteria and are outside the scheme because the risk is low, such as a newsagent selling tins of biscuits. Awaiting Inspection is a new business or a new owner, with no rating yet. Some businesses do not display the sticker. Food Standards Scotland still publishes the result.

Where the sticker has to be displayed

The scheme is set out in law in Wales and Northern Ireland. Display of the sticker is voluntary in England.

In Wales the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 requires the operator to display the sticker once they have been notified of the rating. The duty waits until the 21-day appeal period has ended, or until an appeal has been decided and they have been told the outcome. The Agency says the sticker must be prominent, such as on the door, entrance or window, and that you can ask for the rating in person or by phone. Takeaway leaflets and flyers must include a bilingual statement on how to find the rating.

In Northern Ireland the Food Hygiene Rating Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 requires a valid sticker to be displayed as the regulations specify, for as long as the rating is valid. The Agency says that is at or near each customer entrance, easy to read before you go in, and that staff must tell you the rating if you ask in person or by phone.

In England a business does not have to display the rating, though it is encouraged, and you can ask staff what the last inspection found. In Nottingham the window can be blank for that reason. In London the same rule applies. In Cardiff display is the Welsh duty. The sticker and the website can differ during an appeal, or while the council uploads the new rating. If the door shows a higher rating than the site, contact that council.

How to look a venue up

Search the Food Standards Agency food hygiene ratings service by business name, or by street, town or postcode. Use 0 to 5 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and Pass or Improvement Required in Scotland. The page says a rating is not a guide to food quality. The records cover England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. If nothing appears, try the name alone or the first part of the postcode. A home caterer publishes only that first part, so the full postcode can miss it.

Allergen information is a different duty

Food businesses must tell you if they use any of the 14 regulated allergens as an ingredient. The Food Standards Agency’s advice for consumers covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Peanut is separate from tree nuts. A peanut allergy when eating out is about the dish, not the sticker.

For food that is not prepacked, the information can be written or spoken. If it is spoken, the business must signpost that you can ask a member of staff. A takeaway must give the information before you pay and again when the food arrives. The business does not have to cook a different meal. If you doubt that staff understand, do not eat there. In Scotland the Food Information (Scotland) Regulations 2014 require that same signpost where the food is not sold at a distance, on the food or on a menu or label you can see where you choose it. Food Standards Scotland states the same two stages for a takeaway.

Food packed on the premises for direct sale has needed a full ingredients list, with allergens emphasised, since 1 October 2021. That label does not replace the conversation.

Use the rating, then ask

Look the place up, including the date. A low number, or Improvement Required, is a hygiene warning from that inspection. A 5 or a Pass is still only hygiene. Then ask. There is a longer script in how to tell a restaurant about your food allergy.

• Can they offer a suitable meal, or make one?
• How is the food handled, and could equipment or ingredients cause allergen cross-contamination?
• Has a recipe or an ingredient changed?
• Will they take care with glazes, garnishes, sauces and cooking oils?

If they do not understand, ask for someone who can check this dish today. If you are in any doubt, do not eat there.

Your own allergy action plan comes first. This page cannot clear a meal. If you think someone is having anaphylaxis, follow the NHS: call 999, and use an adrenaline auto-injector if they have one, as they were shown, following the instructions on the device, even if the symptoms are mild. The restaurant steps are in what to do in an allergic reaction. If this summary and the NHS page differ, follow the NHS page and the plan that person was given.

Missing or wrong allergen information is a different report from a poor hygiene sticker. How to report a restaurant allergy mistake sets out the route.

How this sits on SafePlate

You can search for restaurants for a food allergy, or search on the SafePlate homepage. Searching SafePlate is free. A hygiene rating can appear when a listing matches a Food Standards Agency record. How the Allergy Confidence Score works is a different number, from the menu, visitor notes and kitchen checks, and only when the file mentions that food. Unknown is an empty file, not a failed hygiene rating.

The usable allergy chef card, in 38 languages, is part of SafePlate Plus. Plus fills it from your profile, ready to show or print. The allergy chef card page is only a preview unless you have Plus. You cannot fill that sample in, hand it over as yours, or print it. Plus is the usable card.

Set up your foods before you search. This is not medical advice. Confirm the meal with the kitchen. In the UK, if you think someone is having anaphylaxis, call 999.