UK Food Hygiene Ratings Search

Search the official UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) food hygiene ratings database covering England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Retrieve detailed inspection data -- including hygiene, structural, and management sub-scores -- for restaurants, takeaways, cafes, pubs, hotels, supermarkets, and any food business registered with a local authority. No API key required.

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Why use this actor?

• Official government data -- pulls directly from the Food Standards Agency's FHRS API, the same authoritative source behind the green sticker ratings displayed in business windows across the UK.
• Zero configuration overhead -- no API keys, no authentication tokens, no rate-limit management. Provide a search term and get structured results instantly.
• Granular inspection detail -- goes beyond the headline 0--5 rating to expose the three underlying sub-scores (hygiene, structural, confidence in management) that inspectors actually assign.
• Flexible search modes -- search by business name, address, postcode, GPS coordinates with a mile radius, rating level, or local authority -- or combine any of these for precision filtering.
• Cloud-native automation -- runs on Apify infrastructure with built-in scheduling, webhooks, and API access so you can monitor food hygiene trends without maintaining any servers.

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Key features

• Business name search -- find any food establishment by full or partial name across the entire FHRS database
• Location-based radius search -- provide latitude/longitude coordinates and a distance in miles to discover every rated food business within range
• Address and postcode search -- search by street address, town name, or UK postcode without needing exact coordinates
• Rating value filter -- narrow results to a specific hygiene rating (0 through 5, or Exempt) to isolate top performers or flag problem establishments
• Local authority filter -- restrict results to a single council area for focused regional analysis
• Detailed sub-scores -- each result includes hygieneScore, structuralScore, and confidenceInManagementScore -- the three components that determine the headline rating
• Direct FHRS links -- every result includes a URL to the official ratings.food.gov.uk listing page for verification and reference
• Automatic pagination -- seamlessly fetches up to 500 results across multiple API pages in a single actor run
• Geolocation coordinates -- latitude and longitude are included for every establishment that has them, ready for mapping and spatial analysis
• Structured JSON output -- clean, normalized 20-field records suitable for spreadsheets, databases, dashboards, or downstream processing

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How to use

Using the Apify Console

1. Go to the UK Food Hygiene Ratings Search actor page on Apify
2. Click Start to open the input configuration
3. Enter at least one search criterion: a business name, an address/postcode, or latitude/longitude coordinates
4. Optionally set a rating filter, local authority, or adjust max results
5. Click Start to run the actor
6. When the run finishes, view or download results from the Dataset tab in JSON, CSV, or Excel format

Using the Apify API (JavaScript)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('ryanclinton/uk-food-hygiene').call({
    query: "McDonald's",
    ratingValue: '5',
    maxResults: 100,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Using the Apify API (Python)

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')

run = client.actor('ryanclinton/uk-food-hygiene').call(run_input={
    'query': "McDonald's",
    'ratingValue': '5',
    'maxResults': 100,
})

items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items)

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Input parameters

*At least one of query, address, or latitude/longitude must be provided.

Example input JSON:

{
    "query": "Nando's",
    "address": "London",
    "ratingValue": "5",
    "maxResults": 100
}

Tips:

• Combine query with localAuthority to search for a chain within a specific council area
• Use the address field with a postcode (e.g., "EC1A") for precise geographic targeting without needing coordinates
• Set maxDistance only when using latitude/longitude -- it has no effect on name or address searches
• The rating scale runs from 0 (worst) to 5 (best). "Exempt" covers low-risk businesses not rated on the numeric scale

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Output

Each item in the output dataset contains 20 fields. Here is a representative example:

{
    "businessName": "Nando's Chickenland Ltd",
    "businessType": "Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen",
    "ratingValue": "5",
    "ratingDate": "2024-06-12",
    "newRatingPending": false,
    "addressLine1": "57-59 Goodge Street",
    "addressLine2": "",
    "addressLine3": "London",
    "addressLine4": "Greater London",
    "postcode": "W1T 1TH",
    "localAuthority": "Camden",
    "longitude": -0.134392,
    "latitude": 51.520847,
    "hygieneScore": 0,
    "structuralScore": 5,
    "confidenceInManagementScore": 0,
    "schemeType": "FHRS",
    "rightToReply": "",
    "fhrsUrl": "https://ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1098765",
    "fhrsId": 1098765
}

Output fields reference:

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Use cases

• Restaurant due diligence -- check hygiene ratings before booking venues for events, corporate catering, or business partnerships
• Franchise investment screening -- evaluate the hygiene compliance track record of franchise locations before committing capital
• Property location analysis -- assess the food safety landscape around a potential commercial or residential property
• Public health monitoring -- track hygiene rating trends across a local authority area to identify emerging problem zones
• Investigative journalism -- find clusters of low-rated food businesses by area, chain, or business type for data-driven reporting
• Supply chain compliance -- verify that food suppliers and distributors maintain acceptable hygiene standards on an ongoing basis
• Competitor intelligence -- compare hygiene ratings and sub-scores across competing restaurants in the same market area
• Tourism and travel apps -- integrate hygiene ratings into restaurant recommendation engines so users can make informed dining choices
• Insurance risk assessment -- factor food hygiene scores into liability risk models for food business insurance underwriting
• Academic research -- analyze food safety patterns across geographic regions, business types, or time periods using structured data

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API & integration

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')

run = client.actor('ryanclinton/uk-food-hygiene').call(run_input={
    'latitude': 51.5074,
    'longitude': -0.1278,
    'maxDistance': 2,
    'ratingValue': '0',
    'maxResults': 50,
})

for item in client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).iterate_items():
    print(f"{item['businessName']} - Rating: {item['ratingValue']} - {item['postcode']}")

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('ryanclinton/uk-food-hygiene').call({
    address: 'Birmingham',
    localAuthority: 'Birmingham',
    maxResults: 200,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach(item => {
    console.log(`${item.businessName} - Rating: ${item.ratingValue}`);
});

cURL

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ryanclinton~uk-food-hygiene/runs" \
    -X POST \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
    -d '{"query": "Greggs", "maxResults": 100}'

Platform integrations: Apify datasets connect natively with Google Sheets, Slack (via webhooks), Zapier, Make (Integromat), GitHub Actions, and any system that can consume JSON via REST API.

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How it works

1. Input validation -- the actor verifies that at least one search criterion (business name, address, or coordinates) has been provided
2. Query construction -- search parameters are assembled into FHRS API query format, including the fhrs_{value}_en-gb rating key format when a rating filter is specified
3. API request -- the actor calls api.ratings.food.gov.uk/Establishments with the x-api-version: 2 header (no API key needed)
4. Pagination -- if results exceed one page (200 items per page), the actor fetches subsequent pages sequentially until the max results limit is reached
5. Data transformation -- raw API responses are normalized into clean 20-field output records with parsed coordinates, trimmed strings, and constructed FHRS URLs
6. Output -- transformed records are pushed to the Apify dataset for download or API access

                         +------------------+
                         |   Input Config   |
                         | (name/addr/GPS)  |
                         +--------+---------+
                                  |
                                  v
                         +------------------+
                         |    Validation    |
                         | (>= 1 criteria) |
                         +--------+---------+
                                  |
                                  v
                    +-------------+-------------+
                    |   FHRS API (Page 1/N)     |
                    | api.ratings.food.gov.uk   |
                    +-------------+-------------+
                                  |
                           +------+------+
                           | More pages? |
                           +------+------+
                          yes|          |no
                             v          v
                      +------+--+  +----+--------+
                      |Fetch N+1|  | Transform & |
                      +------+--+  | Push Data   |
                             |     +----+--------+
                             +--------->|
                                        v
                               +--------+--------+
                               |  Apify Dataset  |
                               | (JSON/CSV/XLSX) |
                               +-----------------+

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Performance & cost

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Limitations

• England, Wales, and Northern Ireland only -- Scotland uses a separate Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) with pass/improvement-required ratings and is not covered by this actor
• Maximum 500 results per run -- for broader data needs, run multiple targeted searches with different filters or local authorities
• No historical data -- the FHRS API returns the current rating snapshot only; it does not provide historical inspection records or rating change history
• Sub-scores may be null -- exempt businesses, very old records, and some edge cases lack the detailed hygiene/structural/management sub-scores
• Dependent on FSA API availability -- if the Food Standards Agency's API is undergoing maintenance or experiencing issues, the actor will return an error
• Business type taxonomy is FSA-defined -- business type labels (e.g., "Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen", "Takeaway/sandwich shop") follow the FSA's own classification and cannot be customized
• Geolocation coverage varies -- while most establishments include latitude/longitude, some older records may have null coordinates

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Responsible use

• Public data, public purpose -- FHRS ratings are published by the UK government for public transparency. Use this data to inform decisions, not to harass or target individual businesses.
• Verify before acting -- always check the newRatingPending field and the ratingDate to understand how current a rating is before drawing conclusions. Businesses may have improved since their last inspection.
• Respect the rating context -- a single low sub-score does not tell the full story. Consider all three sub-scores, the overall rating, and whether a new rating is pending before making judgments.
• No personal data extraction -- this actor returns business information only. Do not use it in combination with other tools to identify or target individual food handlers or employees.
• Comply with terms of use -- while the FHRS API is freely accessible, the underlying data is provided by the UK Food Standards Agency. Any redistribution or commercial use should comply with the Open Government Licence.

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FAQ

What geographic areas does this actor cover? The FHRS database covers England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Scotland uses the separate Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) and is not included.

How current is the data? The FHRS API provides near-real-time access to the Food Standards Agency database. Ratings are updated as soon as local authorities publish new inspection results.

What do the hygiene rating numbers mean? Ratings range from 0 to 5: 0 = urgent improvement necessary, 1 = major improvement necessary, 2 = improvement necessary, 3 = generally satisfactory, 4 = good, 5 = very good.

How do the sub-scores work? Each establishment receives three sub-scores: hygieneScore (0--25), structuralScore (0--25), and confidenceInManagementScore (0--30). Lower is better -- 0 is the best possible score in each category.

What does "Exempt" mean? Exempt businesses are those deemed very low risk, such as newsagents selling only pre-packaged food. They are inspected but not rated on the 0--5 numeric scale.

What does newRatingPending mean? When newRatingPending is true, the business has been re-inspected but the new rating has not yet been published. The displayed rating may be outdated.

Can I search by postcode? Yes. Enter the postcode in the address field. For example, setting address to "SW1A 1AA" will return food businesses near that postcode.

Do I need an API key for the FHRS data? No. The Food Standards Agency's FHRS API is freely accessible without authentication. This actor handles all API communication -- you only need an Apify account.

Why are some coordinate values null? Not all establishments in the FHRS database have geocoded locations. Older records or recently registered businesses may be missing latitude/longitude data.

Can I combine multiple search criteria? Yes. You can use query together with address, localAuthority, and ratingValue simultaneously to create highly targeted searches.

What is the maximum number of results I can get? A single run can return up to 500 results. If you need more, run multiple searches with different filters (e.g., different local authorities or rating values).

How is maxDistance calculated? The maxDistance parameter is measured in miles from the provided latitude/longitude coordinates. It defaults to 1 mile and only applies when coordinates are specified.

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