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Food hygiene

Food hygiene in Reading by area

In the last month 20 food places across Reading were given a hygiene score, and 100% of them got the top mark of 5. Over three months, 17 places scored 2 or below, and 84 food places are waiting for their first inspection.

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20hygiene scoreslast 31 days
100%scored 520 places, last 31 days
17scored 0 to 2last 3 months
84waiting for a first inspectionusually new or under new owners

Darker means more hygiene scores published. Tap an area for its page.

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Most inspected this month: Reading (9), Lower Earley (6) and Woodley (5). The middle Reading area had 1. Over three months, the highest share of 5s among areas with at least five scores was in Lower Earley (85%), Newtown (78%) and Woodley (75%).

Every area, ranked

1ReadingRG198448%1252
2Lower EarleyRG661385%28
3WoodleyRG551675%13
4KatesgroveRG134146%619
5ColeyRG124144%517
6Reading WestRG122429%513
7BattleRG3021436%412
8NewtownRG12978%09
9WhitleyRG22967%19
10TilehurstRG3011457%211
11Emmer GreenRG41650%11
12Caversham ParkRG41450%11
13NorcotRG301367%04
14SouthcoteRG3012–04
15Whitley WoodRG212–01
16ShinfieldRG211–00
17Dee ParkRG300520%17
18CalcotRG3104100%01
19CavershamRG4040%17
20KentwoodRG310333%12
21Coley ParkRG102–04
22EarleyRG602–02
23Caversham HeightsRG401–00
24Kennet IslandRG201–06
25Purley on ThamesRG801–00

“Last month” and “3 months” count the hygiene scores published within each area’s circle. “Scored 5” is the share of the last three months’ scores that were a 5; it needs at least three. “Waiting” is food places registered but not yet inspected. Areas overlap, so one place can count in more than one. Tap a column to sort.

Scored 0 to 2 in the last three months

A score shows how things were on the day of the inspection. Businesses can appeal, and can ask for a new inspection once they have made improvements, so check the Food Standards Agency’s page for the latest.

Top marks this month

20 places scored 5 in the last 31 days.

New food places

No newly registered food places have appeared in the last month.

84 food places across Reading are registered with their council and waiting for a first hygiene inspection, the most near Reading (52), Katesgrove (19), Coley (17), Reading West (13) and Battle (12). They are usually new businesses or ones under new owners, and each area’s page lists them.

By kind of business

Restaurants and cafés4762%5
Takeaways and sandwich shops1729%3
Shops1631%4
Pubs, bars and clubs1258%1
Other caterers1050%1
Schools and colleges786%0
Care homes and nurseries7100%0
Supermarkets520%2
Mobile caterers580%0
Hotels and B&Bs1–0
Distributors1–1
Food makers and packers1–0

Reading, last three months. The share scoring 5 needs at least three scores.

How food hygiene ratings work

Every place that serves, sells or makes food is inspected by its council’s food safety officers, and the Food Standards Agency publishes the score. Officers look at how food is handled and stored, the state of the building and its cleaning, and how the business manages food safety. The score runs from 0 to 5:

  • 5: very good
  • 4: good
  • 3: generally satisfactory
  • 2: improvement necessary
  • 1: major improvement necessary
  • 0: urgent improvement necessary

How often a place is inspected depends on the risk, so a busy kitchen is visited more often than a shop selling packaged food. New businesses wait for a first visit before they get a score.

Where the figures come from

Scores come from the Food Standards Agency’s food hygiene rating data, published under the Open Government Licence, for every council we cover. Figures for Reading as a whole count the food places whose nearest area is in Reading. Each area is a circle round its middle, the same as on its MeBabber page. A score appears here when the agency publishes it, which can be a few weeks after the inspection.

See our sources and their licences. Figures update every night.

Food hygiene in every area

Questions people ask

Which areas of Reading had the most food hygiene inspections?

Over the last month, the most hygiene scores were published for Reading (9), Lower Earley (6), Woodley (5), Katesgrove (3) and Coley (2). The middle Reading area had 1.

How many Reading food places score 5 for hygiene?

Of the 129 food places in Reading given a score in the last three months, 71 (55%) got the top mark of 5, meaning hygiene is very good.

Have any Reading food places scored 0, 1 or 2 recently?

Yes. In the last three months 17 places in Reading were given 2 or below: 4 scored 0, 5 scored 1 and 8 scored 2. Each is listed on this page with its date. A low score shows how things were on the day of the inspection.

What do food hygiene ratings mean?

Food Standards Agency scores run from 0 to 5: 5 is very good, 4 good, 3 generally satisfactory, 2 improvement necessary, 1 major improvement necessary and 0 urgent improvement necessary. Council officers give the score after an inspection of hygiene, the building and how food safety is managed.