How UK Pizza Places Score on Food Hygiene: What the Data Shows

Every listing on PizzaNearMe that has a food hygiene record shows it, with the inspection date. That let us ask a simple question: how do pizza places actually score?

Most pizza places score well

Of the 8,095 pizza places we list in England and Wales with a 0 to 5 rating, here's the spread on 5 November 2026:

Rating	Meaning	Places	Share
5	Very good	5,408	66.8%
4	Good	1,330	16.4%
3	Generally satisfactory	961	11.9%
2	Improvement necessary	200	2.5%
1	Major improvement necessary	174	2.1%
0	Urgent improvement necessary	22	0.3%

So about 95% scored 3 or higher. A further 545 records were awaiting inspection, and those aren't counted.

Chains and independents look different

• Chain branches: 2,128 of 2,257 rated branches hold a 5, which is 94.3%. Just 7 scored 2 or lower.
• Independents and small groups: 3,280 of 5,838 hold a 5, which is 56.2%. A further 389, or 6.7%, scored 2 or lower.

This doesn't tell you why. A chain has central training, set procedures, and head office support, and a small takeaway often has none of that. Plenty of independents score a 5 with far fewer resources. The figures describe a pattern across thousands of businesses, and they say nothing about any one restaurant.

Among the chains

Chain	Rated branches	Rated 5	Share
Domino's	1,144	1,133	99.0%
Rudy's	35	34	97.1%
PizzaExpress	313	301	96.2%
Franco Manca	58	55	94.8%
Papa Johns	363	316	87.1%
Pizza Hut	344	289	84.0%

Scotland works differently

Scotland uses a separate scheme with results like "Pass" and "Improvement Required", so we don't mix it into the tables above. Of the Scottish pizza places we list with one of those two results, 376 had a Pass and 33 were marked Improvement Required.

How to use a rating

A rating is one inspection, on one day. It tells you about hygiene and nothing about taste. Our guide to hygiene ratings explains what's assessed. For any restaurant's current rating, check the FSA website, as ratings can change after any inspection.