What share of UK farmers & growers have a 5-star food hygiene rating?

90.5% of UK farmers & growers hold the top 5-star Food Standards Agency hygiene rating — 1,067 of 1,179 rated premises in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — with an average rating of 4.88 out of 5. That is above the all-business-type UK average of 78.2%. Data as of 2026-06-12.

How many UK farmers & growers have a low (0 or 1 star) hygiene rating?

0.1% of rated UK farmers & growers (1 premises) score 0 or 1 star, the FSA's lowest bands. A low share here means most lower-rated premises sit at 3–4 stars, not at the bottom.

What do UK farmers & growers score worst on at inspection?

Across the FSA's three inspection components — Hygiene (food handling), Structural (cleanliness and condition) and Confidence in Management — UK farmers & growers score worst, relative to each band, on cleanliness & structure. Lower component scores are better; this reflects where inspectors most often note room for improvement, not unsafe food.

UK Farmers & growers Food Hygiene Ratings 2026

Quick answer

90.5% of UK farmers & growers hold the top 5-star food hygiene rating.

Across 1,179 rated farmers & growers, 1,067 (90.5%) carry the maximum 5-star Food Standards Agency rating and the average rating is 4.88 out of 5. That is above the all-business-type UK average of 78.2% (+12.3 percentage points). 0.1% (1) score 0 or 1 star.

Rating distribution

Every one of the 1,179 rated farmers & growers, by their 0–5 Food Hygiene Rating.

5 — Very good

1,067 (90.5%)

4 — Good

84 (7.1%)

3 — Generally satisfactory

25 (2.1%)

2 — Improvement necessary

2 (0.2%)

1 — Major improvement necessary

1 (0.1%)

0 — Urgent improvement necessary

0 (0%)

Where farmers & growers score worst

The FSA scores three things at every inspection. Each bar is the mean sub-score for farmers & growers — lower is better (0 = no issues found). Computed over 1,177 rated premises that carried all three sub-scores.

Hygiene (food handling, storage, cooking)1.5 / 25

Structural (cleanliness, layout, condition)2.1 / 25

Confidence in management (record-keeping, controls)2.4 / 30

For farmers & growers, the component dragging ratings down most — relative to its own scoring band — is cleanliness & structure. A higher sub-score there means more inspections flagged that area for improvement. It does not mean the food is unsafe: only 0.1% of rated farmers & growers sit at 0–1 star.

Compare

UK Food Hygiene by Business Type 2026 — all 14 categories ranked, restaurants vs takeaways and more.
The State of UK Restaurant Hygiene 2026 — national pass rate, best and worst local authorities.
UK Food Hygiene Ratings Directory — search the full dataset by local authority and postcode.
GeraCompliance — food safety and regulatory checks for businesses.

Methodology

Figures are computed directly from the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) public register, restricted to premises the FSA classifies as "Farmers/growers" in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that carry a published 0–5 rating (1,179 premises). Percentages are over rated premises only. Scotland's separate FHIS pass/fail scheme is excluded so the five-star metric stays comparable. The average rating is the count-weighted mean of the 0–5 ratings. The three component sub-scores are the FSA's own Hygiene (0–25), Structural (0–25) and Confidence-in-Management (0–30) bands, where a lower score is better; the means shown are count-weighted over premises carrying all three. No figures are estimated or modelled. Food hygiene data © Crown copyright, Food Standards Agency, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data as of 2026-06-12.