UK towns with best and worst average hygiene ratings revealed

Everyone loves a top 10

That is the beauty of the Food Standards Agency's Food Hygiene Rating which people in the UK will find across the nation in shop windows and behind counters.

While in England and Scotland, it is not a legal requirement to display the score, every commercial food seller, in a shop or in a home kitchen, must be registered and scored by the local authority.

Wales and Northern Ireland take this one step further and require all food businesses to display their rating.

The thing that's so great about every food vendor in the UK requiring a score which is made publicly available, organisations like HygieneWatch can aggregate this data to create a monthly-updated league table of towns with the best and worst average hygiene ratings.

It must also be noted that while the lowest ranked of the bottom 10 comes in at 3.89, this does not mean the food is unsafe to eat. A rating of a flat three means it is "safe to eat from, but requires improvement in specific areas."

In general the vast majority of food vendors in the UK abide by the Food Standards Agency's rules and hygiene across the nation is high quality.

So, without further ado, here are the top 10 and bottom 10 ranked towns for October 2026.

Stipulation: For a town to qualify in this list it must have at least 100 registered and rated food establishments.

The top 10

1. Burnham-on-Sea | Average 5.0 | Rated places: 120 | Five-star 100%
2. Retford | Average 4.98 | Rated places: 205 | Five-star 99%
3. Formby | Average 4.96 | Rated places: 134 | Five-star 96%
4. Knutsford | Average 4.96 | Rated places: 128 | Five-star 96%
5. Thornaby-on-Tees | Average 4.95 | Rated places: 171 | Five-star 96%
6. Sherborne | Average 4.95 | Rated places: 102 | Five-star 96%
7. Weymouth | Average 4.94 | Rated places: 468 | Five-star 95%
8. Dorchester | Average 4.94 | Rated places: 216 | Five-star 96%
9. Alnwick | Average 4.94 | Rated places: 143 | Five-star 97%
10. Ramsgate | Average 4.93 | Rated places: 393 | Five-star 96%

The bottom 10

1. Newham | Average 3.89 | Rated places: 2,184 | Five-star 47%
2. Waltham Forest | Average 3.92 | Rated places: 1,727 | Five-star 48%
3. Atherton | Average 3.96 | Rated places: 167 | Five-star 43%
4. Leigh | Average 4.01 | Rated places: 350 | Five-star 45%
5. Farnworth | Average 4.06 | Rated places: 191 | Five-star 48%
6. Hindley | Average 4.08 | Rated places: 118 | Five-star 47%
7. Ealing | Average 4.08 | Rated places: 2,775 | Five-star 55%
8. Darlaston | Average 4.09 | Rated places: 101 | Five-star 50%
9. Ebbw Vale | Average 4.1 | Rated places: 142 | Five-star 40%
10. Walsall | Average 4.11 | Rated places: 556 | Five-star 56%

You can find the entire list here at HygieneWatch.

What does each number mean in the Food Hygiene Rating system

• 5 – hygiene standards are very good
• 4 – hygiene standards are good
• 3 – hygiene standards are generally satisfactory
• 2 – some improvement is necessary
• 1 – major improvement is necessary
• 0 – urgent improvement is necessary