A food hygiene rating checklist is the inspector's three areas turned into lines. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme guidance, cited below, says 5 is top of the scale, meaning the hygiene standards are very good and fully comply with the law, and 0 is at the bottom, meaning urgent improvement is necessary; the inspector looks at how hygienically the food is handled, the physical condition of the business, and how the business manages ways of keeping food safe, looking at processes, training and systems. The first area is watched, the second is walked, the third is read, and the checklist on this site carries lines for each so the walk before the visit is the same walk the inspector makes. The food safety audit checklist prints it, free and without an account; the paid product keeps the completed checklists.
Hygienic handling, as lines
Probe used at cooking and the reading recorded; cooling timed; raw and ready-to-eat separated; hot holding in limit; reheating to the standard; hand-washing seen; date labels applied. The same guidance gives the cooking standard as 70°C for 2 minutes, or the equivalents it lists, 75°C for 30 seconds among them.
The premises, as lines
Structure clean and in repair; floors, walls, ceilings; ventilation; lighting; pest control evidence; hand-wash basins stocked; equipment clean and working; waste managed; storage off the floor and dated.
Management of food safety, as lines
Plan current and matching the menu; temperature records complete for the period; corrective actions recorded; allergen matrix dated; traceability records; training records; probe calibration; cleaning schedule signed. The gov.uk guidance for food businesses, cited below, says a food safety management system must meet the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles, and describes critical control points as the points when you need to prevent, remove or reduce a hazard in your work process. The gap is usually here.
Using the checklist
Walk it monthly and before any visit, honestly. Each line is a pass, a fail or a gap, and the fails become the week's list. ProbeLedger Pro keeps the completed checklists and the records they check; the free checklist prints. FoodDocs lists its Lite plan at $99 per site per month billed monthly or $79 billed annually, and its Standard plan at $199 per site per month, with a free 14-day trial, on its pricing page cited below. ProbeLedger Pro is $49 per month for the whole site.
Questions people ask about food hygiene rating checklist
Does a 5 need perfect records?
It needs records that show the system is followed; a recorded miss with a recorded fix is a working system.
How long before the inspection should I walk the checklist?
Inspections are unannounced; monthly is the rhythm that means it is always recently walked.
Is the checklist free?
Yes, without an account.