How to appeal a food hygiene rating: the 21-day deadline, the letter, and when a re-rating inspection is the better route

You have 21 days from the day you are told your food hygiene rating to appeal it in writing, and that count includes weekends and public holidays. An appeal is the right route only when the rating was wrong on the day. If the faults were real and are now fixed, a re-rating inspection is the route, and the two cannot run together.

The rules below come from the Food Standards Agency's guidance for businesses, updated on 30 June 2026. It covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Food hygiene rating appeal letter maker

Fill in the inspection, the day you were told the rating and the points you dispute. The letter works out the last day of the 21 days and sets out the appeal for the council.

Which letterLetter to postEmail Business name and address Date of the inspection Date you were told the ratingThe day the letter or email with the rating reached you. The 21 days run from here, weekends and public holidays included. Rating given01234 Officer you spoke to Date you spoke to the officerThe guidance asks you to speak to the officer before you appeal. The finding you disputehow hygienically food is handledthe physical condition of the premiseshow food safety is managed Your reasons, numbered1. The report says no temperature records were kept. The fridge and hot-hold logs for the four weeks before the inspection were in the kitchen office on the day. 2. The report says the cleaning schedule was not in use. The signed schedule for each of those four weeks was on the kitchen wall.For each point: what the report says, what was in place on the day, and the document that shows it. Documents enclosed, each with its dateFridge and hot-hold temperature logs for the four weeks before the inspection Signed cleaning schedules for the same four weeks Photograph of the kitchen office record shelf, taken on the inspection day Your name, role, phone and emailTom Reed, owner 01632 960000, tom@theploughinn.example

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• In Wales you must use the standard appeal form, not a letter. In England and Northern Ireland the form, a letter or an email will do.
• Use only evidence dated on or before the inspection day. Work done since belongs in a right to reply or a re-rating request.
• Send it in the first fortnight and keep proof of the date you sent it.
• An appeal and a re-rating request cannot run together. Appeal only if the rating was wrong on the day.

The rule this rests on: Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme guidance for businesses: an appeal is made in writing within 21 days of being notified of the rating. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice.

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Three routes, and what each one changes

The guidance states no fee for an appeal or a right to reply. A re-rating is charged for by every council in Wales and Northern Ireland and by some in England. Each council sets its own fee and gives it in the rating letter, so no figure is quoted here.

Appeal or re-rating

An appeal asks a second officer to look at the same inspection. It is for a rating that was wrong on the day: a record that existed and was not looked at, or a fault recorded against the wrong part of the premises.

A re-rating asks for a new inspection. The guidance says you can request one only if you have accepted the rating and made all the improvements the officer recommended. In Wales and Northern Ireland an appeal must be resolved before the council will agree to a re-rating. The officer looks at the whole premises again, so the rating can go down.

The dates, worked from one inspection

Take an inspection on Thursday 1 October 2026 that ends in a rating of 2.

A rating of 5 is published as soon as the council uploads it; ratings of 0 to 4 wait 3 to 5 weeks to leave room for an appeal. Send the appeal in the first fortnight, so that nobody has to argue about which day the count began.

How to appeal

1. Read the inspection letter against the three things the officer checks: how hygienically food is handled, the physical condition of the premises, and how food safety is managed. Decide which you dispute.
2. Speak to the food safety officer named in the letter. The guidance asks you to do this before appealing.
3. Collect evidence dated on or before the inspection day: temperature logs, cleaning schedules, pest control reports, training records, photographs.
4. Write to the local authority within the 21 days. In England and Northern Ireland you may use the appeal form, a letter or an email. In Wales you must use the standard form.
5. Keep proof of the date you sent it.

A letter to adapt

Appeal against food hygiene rating: [business name], [address]

I was notified on [date] of a rating of [number] following the inspection on [date]. I am appealing within the 21 days allowed.

I spoke to [officer's name] on [date] about how the rating was reached.

I dispute the finding on [handling of food / condition of the premises / management of food safety] for these reasons:

1. [What the report says, what was in place on the day, and the document that shows it.]
2. [The same for each further point.]

I enclose [list of documents, each dated].

[Name, role, phone, email]

Keep it to facts that were true on the inspection day. Work done since belongs in a right to reply or a re-rating request.

Who decides, and what follows

The appeal is decided by the council's lead officer for food or a deputy, or by the lead officer of another council in the scheme. The officer who gave the rating does not consider it. Once you are told the result, the rating is published.

If you think the council did not follow the process, use its complaints procedure, and then the Local Government Ombudsman in England and Wales or the Public Services Ombudsman in Northern Ireland. The decision itself can be challenged by judicial review, and the rating is still published while that runs.

If the rating was right: timing a re-rating

In England, where the council does not charge, you get one re-rating between planned inspections. It will not usually happen in the first three months after the inspection, though the council may come sooner if the only work asked for was structural repairs or new equipment. A request made in those first three months should lead to a visit within six months of the inspection. A later request, or one to a council that charges, should lead to a visit within three months. In Wales and Northern Ireland the visit is made within three months of a written request. You are not told the date in advance. The request must say what you did about each point, with evidence such as receipts or photographs.

Displaying the rating

Venues in Wales and Northern Ireland must by law display the rating at or near each customer entrance. In England display is voluntary.

Written systems are what the third check looks at, and our guide to Natasha's Law and the allergen matrix describes one such record. A right to reply is read by customers, so write it the way our review reply writer writes a public answer: what happened, what changed, no argument.

This is general information, not legal advice.