Every Tonbridge and Malling Hygiene Rating in August Was a 5

Every food business in Tonbridge and Malling given a new food hygiene rating in August came away with the top score. All 22 of them hold a 5.

No other month in the past year reads that way on the register. In July it shows 42 premises in the borough rated, and 14 of them at 4 or below. In May one business was left on a 1.

The ratings are given by the borough council’s food and safety team and published by the Food Standards Agency. Councils score businesses from 0 to 5, where 5 is very good, 3 is generally satisfactory and 0 means urgent improvement is necessary.

Who was inspected

The 22 run right across the borough, and only three are in Tonbridge itself. Care homes, nurseries, mobile snack vans and petrol station shops all fall inside the scheme alongside pubs and takeaways.

Seven of the 22 took the best possible mark in all three parts of the inspection. Officers score hygiene practice, the condition of the building and confidence in management separately, and on those scales a lower number is better: the FSA’s own score descriptors label a zero “very good” and a five “good”. Snodland Family Hub, GallaWhippy, Maison 70, Angelina’s, Hildenborough PFS, Little Market Coffee House and Brighter Living UK all scored zero across the board.

Set against the rest of the year

August was also a quiet month for inspections. Twenty-two ratings is about half the usual monthly total for the borough, which ran between 37 and 60 in ten of the previous eleven months. The exception was a quiet December, with 20. A smaller month is an easier one in which to score a clean sweep.

It is still an outlier. Across those eleven months the share of ratings at 5 ran from 67% in July to 82% in April.

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Across the whole borough the picture is steadier than one month suggests. The register lists 1,057 premises in Tonbridge and Malling. Of the 973 carrying a numbered rating:

• 775 hold a 5, which is 79.7% of them
• 125 hold a 4
• 55 hold a 3
• 17 hold a 2
• one holds a 1, and none holds a 0
• a further 41 are awaiting their first inspection and 43 are exempt from rating

One caveat on all of these numbers. The register only ever shows a business’s current rating, so a premises inspected again since is counted under its newer month, not its older one. That mostly affects the low scorers, who are re-inspected soonest, and it flatters the earlier months rather than August.

What it means for you

• Check before you book or order. Every rating is free to look up by name or postcode on the FSA register, and it gives the inspection date as well as the score. Our directory of Tonbridge businesses lists addresses and opening hours to search against.
• A rating is a snapshot, not a running score. It records what an officer found on one day. An old 5 is not a promise about today, and a recent 3 is not permanent.
• Businesses have rights here. A business that disagrees with its rating can appeal to the council. Appeal within 21 days and the rating stays off the register until the council has reviewed it, and the council has 21 days to answer. A business can also publish a “right to reply” beside its score at any time, and can ask for a re-rating inspection once it has made improvements, which most councils charge for.
• Display is not compulsory in England. Unlike Wales and Northern Ireland, English businesses do not have to put the sticker in the window, so no sticker tells you nothing either way.
• You can report a problem. Concerns about a food business in the borough go to the council’s food and safety team on 01732 876191 or at foodandsafety@tmbc.gov.uk.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency, food hygiene ratings register, Tonbridge and Malling local authority (id 259), read 4 September 2026
• GOV.UK, Food hygiene ratings, including what each score means and how a business appeals, replies or asks for a re-rating
• Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, food business registration and the food and safety team