Food hygiene inspection for a pizzeria: what the EHO checks
A food hygiene inspection is carried out by an environmental health officer from your local council, usually unannounced. They check three things: how hygienically food is handled, the state of the premises, and how you manage food safety on paper. Those three scores set your food hygiene rating from 0 to 5.
Before you open: register
Every food business has to register with its local authority at least 28 days before it starts trading. Registration is free and cannot be refused, but it puts you on the council’s list, and your first inspection usually follows within a few months of opening.
What the inspector scores
| Area | What they look at | In a pizzeria |
|---|---|---|
| Food handling | Temperatures, cross-contamination, handwashing | Prep counter, dough trays, raw and cooked meat |
| Premises | Cleanliness, layout, repair, pests | Flour store, oven surround, handwash basin |
| Confidence in management | Your written system and records | Safer Food, Better Business pack, fridge logs, training |
Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Scotland runs a separate Pass / Improvement Required scheme.
The third area surprises most owners. You can have a spotless kitchen and still lose a rating point because nobody can show the inspector a fridge log or explain how the cooling of a meat sauce is checked.
Your food safety management system
The law requires a written system based on HACCP principles. For a small pizzeria, the FSA’s free Safer Food, Better Business pack is the simplest way to meet that: fill in the sections that apply, keep the diary pages going every day, and review it when your menu changes.
Where inspectors look in a pizzeria
- The prep counter: temperature at the surface of the pans, lids, and whether yesterday’s toppings have been topped up rather than replaced. See food storage temperatures.
- Dough trays: dated or not, and how long they have been in the fridge.
- Flour and dry store: sacks on the floor, open sacks, signs of pests behind pallets.
- Decanted food: mozzarella out of its packaging or tomato sauce in an unlabelled tub is one of the most common findings.
- The handwash basin: hot water, soap, paper towels, and actually reachable during service rather than blocked by stock.
After the visit
Ratings are published on the FSA website. Display at the premises is a legal requirement in Wales and Northern Ireland and voluntary in England, but customers increasingly check online either way. Where there are serious problems, officers can issue a hygiene improvement notice or, where there is an imminent risk to health, close the business. If you disagree with a rating you can appeal within 21 days, or request a re-visit once you have fixed the issues.
Getting ready without waiting for the knock
- Keep the SFBB pack, logs and training certificates where any member of staff can find them.
- Walk your own kitchen once a week with an inspector’s eyes: labels, dates, floor, handwash basin.
- Decide who speaks to the inspector if you are not there.
For the paperwork that is most often incomplete, see food traceability in a pizzeria.