How the figures are calculated
- Food hygiene map
- How the figures are calculated
Every figure on this site comes from one file: the national food hygiene file published by the Food Standards Agency, with the records supplied by local authorities. We accept one dated copy, keep its bytes, and calculate from that copy only.
The share needing improvement is the count of results at 0, 1 or 2 on the 0 to 5 scale, plus Scottish results marked as needing improvement, divided by the count of known results that the scheme applies to. Premises waiting for a rating and exempt premises are outside both halves of that fraction. Shares carry a Wilson 95 percent interval and their own denominator. Counts carry no interval.
The gap is the observed share minus a base built from the same business types and the same scheme, weighted by how many of each type this area holds. The gap is a difference between two shares, so it has no Wilson interval of its own; the two shares keep theirs.
The age of a rating is the median number of days from the inspection date to the file date, among results with a known date. We also publish the share of dated results older than 730 days.
Fewer than 10 known results means no page at all. Between 10 and 29, we publish counts and say the base is too small for a share. From 30, shares appear with their interval.
Worked example, Leeds restaurants: 39 ratings needing improvement, divided by 1,679 ratings known ratings. The result is 2.3% (95% interval 1.7% to 3.2%), from 1,679 ratings. The same-type country gap is −1.4 pp.
Read the Leeds restaurants page and its aggregate downloads to reproduce this example.
Use a published page
Choose a council area from the home page or check a premises with the publisher.
Council area directoryFind a premises rating at the Food Standards Agency
| Measure | Result | Low | High | Ratings counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Known ratings | 1,679 ratings | No interval | No interval | Exact file count |
| Results needing improvement | 39 ratings | No interval | No interval | Exact file count |
| Waiting or unknown results | 229 records | No interval | No interval | Exact file count |
| Exempt premises | 5 premises | No interval | No interval | Exact file count |
| Needs improvement | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3.2% | 1,679 ratings |
| Rated five | 74.6% | 72.4% | 76.7% | 1,679 ratings |
Further calculated measures
| Measure | Result | Low | High | Ratings counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gap against the same types | −1.4 pp | No interval | No interval | 1,679 ratings |
| Median age of a rating | 444 days | No interval | No interval | 1,679 ratings |
| Older than two years | 24.4% | 22.4% | 26.6% | 1,679 ratings |
| Low ratings with all three scores | 39 ratings | No interval | No interval | Exact file count |
| Hygiene | 23.1% | 12.6% | 38.4% | 39 ratings |
| Structural | 51.3% | 36.1% | 66.2% | 39 ratings |
| Confidence in management | 35.9% | 22.7% | 51.6% | 39 ratings |
What to do next
Limits of these figures
Source
- Source
- Food Standards Agency, national English-language open data file
- File accepted
- 18 October 2026
- Publisher file timestamp
- 2026-10-17T01:06:42Z
- National file count
- 614,349
- Source SHA-256
- 0eccd1ba6db3e1cb9ec1e50c296a825d4c4a0dceec3935b2fc2e0106936b5715
- Calculation release
- fsa-2026-10-18-0eccd1ba6db3-e2b1a3747bdf
- Method
- Same-type, same-scheme profiles; unknown and exempt results excluded from shares.
- Substantive change
- 18 October 2026
Publisher comparison
The two counts describe different things, so no comparison is possible. Comparing them anyway would produce a difference that means nothing, so the status is printed instead of a number. This accepted file has no publisher count captured in the same intake. A live count from another delivery is not substituted. The source bytes and unique record keys were checked independently of that missing control.