Some food business owners, when preparing for their food hygiene inspection, are happy to follow the steps “in their head.” They rely on memory, instinct, or routine to keep things ticking over. Most of the time, it works — until something goes wrong.
And when it does, it can mean a failed food hygiene inspection — and a disappointing food hygiene rating score that’s hard to recover from.
This is where an EHO inspection checklist can help.
This isn’t paperwork for paperwork’s sake. It’s a simple tool with one purpose: to improve your inspection outcome. In this case, to help you pass your food hygiene inspection. Every food business should use one.
👉 In this guide, we’ll cover why a checklist matters, what it should include, and how to use it effectively. If you want to skim read, then jump straight to the section you need below.
Table of Contents
Purpose Of Using An EHO Inspection Checklist
In high-pressure industries like surgery, aviation and construction, checklists are standard. Not because people don’t know what they’re doing — but because even experienced professionals make mistakes under pressure. Checklists improve safety outcomes in a variety of industries.
In the food industry, this simple tool has many advantages. Let’s find out what these are.
Benefits of Using An EHO Inspection Checklist
Using a checklist to prepare for your EHO inspection will prevent lapses in memory.
An EHO inspection checklist can:
- Support your team to know what actions they need to take before your food hygiene inspection. It supports a proactive approach rather than being reactive.
- Ensure legal compliance by guiding attention to what EHOs will be looking for.
- Make operations more efficient, removing chaos as staff try to deal with multiple tasks at once.
- Be a useful planning tool to keep different departments on their toes and inspection-ready – as EHO inspections are unannounced.
- Keep your food safety standards consistently high and prevent things slipping (especially important once you get a 5 food hygiene rating and want to stay there).
- Plug holes in your food safety defences – by highlighting compliance gaps before the EHO learns about them.
- Encourage staff to think and behave more safely 😉 preventing harm to customers.
- Highlight variability in practice so you know where compliance problems are (and who is not following the rules).
- Encourage team communication and teamwork.
Most importantly, checklists that are based on evidence are proven to work.
Features of an EHO Inspection Checklist
An EHO Inspection Checklist is a tool made from a simple piece of paper – so it’s cheap and easy to develop.
It breaks down a complex process into simple, manageable steps.
Tasks are divided up into groups (based on what the EHO inspector will be looking for).
By using a checklist, you’ll give yourself a better chance of passing your EHO inspection with flying colours. Who wouldn’t want that??
🗓️ EHO Inspection Checklist To Stay Inspection-Ready
You won’t get a warning that the EHO is about to drop in to carry out a routine food hygiene inspection. In case you weren’t aware – EHOs can and do visit at any time. Food hygiene inspections are generally unannounced. If your standards only improve the day or week before an expected visit, you’re playing a risky game.
Even more reason to use a checklist when preparing for your EHO visit. It will help your business stay inspection ready all the time — not just when you think the EHO might be close.
Use a checklist to routinely self-inspect your business. Not only to prepare properly for your EHO inspection. But to keep standards high. Your customers will appreciate you safeguarding their health.
If you’ve only just registered your food business, read this post first: How to prepare for your first food hygiene inspection. It’s important that you don’t make this critical mistake.
🔍 What Does an EHO Inspection Involve?
📍 EHOs look at your menu or the foods you sell. They will scrutinise your food safety processes. For example, how food is purchased, delivered, stored, prepared, cooked, cooled, kept hot, and sold or served. They will ask about how you monitor those processes. They’ll ask questions about your food safety practices, observe staff behaviour, examine the structure of your premises, and check your records.
💬 What the FSA Says (And What It Means in Reality)
According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) “Inspectors are not visiting to find faults or shut down your business. The reason for inspections is to support you in providing safe food… All businesses should be able to achieve the top rating of 5.”
That’s the official line. In practice? Getting a 5-star hygiene rating isn’t always easy. This is where a checklist can really help you get the basics right.
⚖️ How Do EHOs Score Your Business?
There are three areas that EHOs assess food hygiene under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. We’ll cover those in more detail in a separate post — but keep in mind – lots of minor issues in one area can affect your overall score.
📉 What Hygiene Ratings Can You Get?
Food hygiene scores range from 0 (urgent improvement needed) to 5 (very good).
That number gets displayed — on your door (depending on where you live in the UK). Read our article on the Hygiene Sticker Display Rules to know more.
People can also search for hygiene ratings online. It will also appear online in Google searches. People notice it.
To make things worse, Newspapers, like Walesonline, name and shame establishments with a poor hygiene score. This is why controlling the narrative before a poor hygiene rating gets escalated online is vital.
🔺 What Score Should You Aim For?
Aim for a 5. This should be your goal.
It’s what every business should aim for — and what many clients and contracts now expect.
Anything less than a 3 food hygiene rating raises a red flag.
💸 What Happens If You Get It Wrong?
An inspection is a snapshot in time — but the consequences can last for months, even years.
You can request a food hygiene reinspection. The cost varies between Local Authorities and is approximately £180 to over £400 in some areas of the UK. You may also have to wait up to 3 months for the reinspection visit to be carried out.
In the meantime:
- You could lose customers
- Risk losing contracts
- Struggle to win new business
- You may even lose staff
All for things that might have been avoided with a clearly written, simple checklist.
This is why the approach you choose when preparing for your EHO visit is something you need to consider. There is one approach that can set you up for success.
Dr Julie Rasmussen
✅ FREE Download - EHO Inspection Checklist
Don’t risk a low food hygiene score.
👉 Read our full guide: EHO Inspection Checklist for a 5-Star Hygiene Rating
You’ll get a FREE checklist to help you prepare — plus clear, practical tips on what EHOs look for and how to avoid common mistakes.
🔗 Want Help Putting This Advice Into Action?
If you want to go beyond ticking boxes and use your checklist as a proper preparation tool — read our main article: Mock EHO Inspection – a better way to prepare for your food hygiene inspection.
Using a checklist isn’t about playing safe. It’s about being smart. It helps you get it right — first time.
❓ Got A Food Safety Question?
Remember, EHOs can turn up anytime – you don’t get a warning. If your records are patchy or you haven’t reviewed your HACCP recently, it can cost you your rating.
👉 Not sure if your business is ready for the EHO inspection? Feeling stuck or unsure?
Ask a food safety expert is a FREE service. Get answers before your next EHO visit.
Get unstuck before your next EHO inspection.
