How to respond to your food hygiene rating

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is a national scheme designed to help people make informed choices about where they eat or shop for food, and encourage food businesses to keep good hygiene standards.

Read more about how food businesses are rated:

Following an inspection you have the right to respond to your rating in one of the following ways:

Appeal your rating

If following a hygiene inspection you think your rating is wrong or unfair, you can appeal it with the Lead Food Officer (or designated deputy, in their absence). If the person who conducted your inspection is the Lead Food Officer, your appeal would be handled by a lead food officer from another local authority.

The first part of the process involves speaking to the inspecting officer who carried out your inspection. The aim of this is to give you a chance to discuss the rating you received and understand how it was decided. By doing this you may be able to resolve any disputes informally and avoid resorting to the appeal procedure.

If you do decide to lodge a formal appeal please first read:

To lodge an appeal please complete the form below and return it within 21 days of receipt of your ratings notification letter:

Request a revisit

If you have made the improvements we suggested at our inspection, you can request a revisit.

A requested revisit is a full inspection which will be carried out unannounced, within three months of receiving the request.

You can request a revisit at any time after the statutory inspection and there is no limit to the number of revisits you request. However, as you need to pay for each revisit, we recommend you make sure you address all issues raised following your inspection before submitting a request.

The inspecting officer can return to carry out enforcement revisits which are outside the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme to ensure any legal requirements have been met within a set time period.

To request a revisit please complete the form below and return it to us, along with a payment of £177.00.

(Prices from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024. Prices are subject to an annual increase in April, prices correct as at 1st April 2023).

When completing the form you need to explain what you've done to address the issues from your last inspection. Include supporting evidence, like receipts or photos to show you've done the work.

Payment can be made by one of the following methods:

  • In person: pay with cash by visiting our offices at Worthing Town Hall, Chapel Road, Worthing, BN11 1HA. Please ask for the Public Health & Regulation team
  • By phone: pay using a debit or credit card by calling 01273 263331 and asking for the Public Health & Regulation team, it is preferable that you arrange a suitable time for payment first as our phone lines are busy:
    email publichealth.regulation@adur-worthing.gov.uk

What happens after a revisit

We will write to you within 14 days of the revisit to let you know what your new food hygiene score is. The score could stay the same, or it could go up or down.

As with your original hygiene rating you have the right to appeal if you feel your score is unfair. You can also:

Request a right to reply

The right to reply allows you to explain to customers what you have done to improve hygiene standards. It is not an opportunity to make complaints or criticise the scheme or process.

Your comments will be reviewed to check for any offensive remarks before being published alongside your rating online.

To submit a right to reply please use the form below:

Back to top

Page last updated: 06 July 2023

Back to top