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HYGIENIC FOOD HANDLING

Score 5 — Good

A score of 5 indicates a good standard of compliance for hygienic food handling at the time of your assessment.

This is a positive result, but there may still be areas where your food handling controls can be strengthened. Start with any points identified by your food safety officer and use them to focus your improvements.

5
GOOD Good standard of compliance
✓

Review points raised during your inspection

✓

Strengthen any weaker food handling controls

✓

Work towards Score 0 — Very good

i
Remember: Component scores work in the opposite direction to your overall food hygiene rating. For component scores, lower is better. A score of 5 is Good, while Score 0 represents Very good.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR SCORE

What does a hygienic food handling score of 5 mean?

A score of 5 indicates a good standard of compliance for hygienic food handling.

In practice, this means the food safety officer found that your food handling practices were generally being managed well, but identified some minor issues or lapses that could be improved.

These are normally issues that are not critical to food safety, but they are still worth addressing so that good practices become consistently very good and weaknesses do not develop over time.

5
YOUR COMPONENT SCORE Good
✓

Good overall compliance with food hygiene requirements

✓

Any issues identified should generally be minor

→

Address the points raised to work towards Score 0 — Very good

Your inspection findings matter. A score tells you the overall level of compliance for this component, but it does not tell you exactly what the officer found. We’ll look at how to use your inspection report below.

Supporting good food handling

Explore practical products to help maintain good food handling standards, from personal hygiene and temperature monitoring to cross-contamination controls.

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MAINTAINING YOUR STANDARDS

Don’t let good standards slip

A Very good score reflects the standards found at the time of your assessment. Changes within the business can affect how consistently food safety controls are maintained, so it is important to keep reviewing how things are working in practice.

New or temporary staff

Make sure new, temporary and agency staff understand the food handling procedures relevant to their role before working unsupervised.

Menu changes

New dishes and ingredients can introduce different preparation, allergen, storage or temperature-control requirements. Review your controls when your menu changes.

New equipment

Make sure new equipment is suitable for its intended use, used correctly and incorporated into your existing food safety procedures where needed.

Busy periods

Increased workloads should not lead to established food safety controls being rushed, missed or bypassed during busy periods.

Changes to processes

Review your controls when you change how food is prepared, cooked, cooled, stored, transported or served.

Standards drifting over time

Observe working practices regularly rather than assuming procedures are still being followed. Small changes can become normal if they are not picked up early.

A Score 0 is something to maintain

Keep checking that your procedures are working in practice rather than waiting until the next food hygiene inspection to review your standards.

QUICK SELF-CHECK

Score 0 maintenance checklist

Use this quick checklist periodically to help confirm that the food handling standards and controls that contributed to your Very good score are still being followed in practice.

✓

Are food temperatures being controlled?

Check that temperature controls relevant to your business are still being followed and monitored effectively.

✓

Are raw and ready-to-eat foods suitably separated?

Review how food is stored, prepared and handled to make sure your cross-contamination controls continue to work in practice.

✓

Are staff following good food handling practices?

Observe day-to-day preparation, cooking, cooling, reheating and storage practices rather than relying only on written procedures.

✓

Are good personal hygiene practices being maintained?

Check that appropriate hand hygiene and hygienic working practices remain part of normal day-to-day routines.

✓

Are your existing controls still suitable?

Consider whether changes to staff, menus, equipment or processes mean any of your established food safety controls need reviewing.

✓

Are problems being dealt with when they are found?

Take action when standards begin to slip and check that any corrective measures have resolved the issue.

Check your food hygiene rating today

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