The food hygiene rating scheme tells you about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafés, takeaways, hotels, and other places you eat out, as well as supermarkets and other food shops.
In Lambeth the scheme is run by Lambeth Council in partnership with the Food Standards Agency. This is the central government department with responsibility for food safety.
Telling consumers about hygiene standards in food outlets gives them greater choice. It also recognises those businesses with the highest standards and encourages others to improve.
The overall aim is to reduce the number of cases of food poisoning which currently affect about one million people in the UK every year.
Having a national scheme in place:
- helps residents and visitors to make informed choices about where to eat out or shop for food, not just within Lambeth and London but further afield
- makes sure that businesses are treated fairly and consistently with local competitors, and with their competitors more widely.