All 37 food hygiene ratings published for Maidstone borough in August scored 5, the first clean sweep of 2026. Every other month produced at least one 3 or below.
Thirty-seven Maidstone borough businesses were given a food hygiene rating in August. Every single one scored 5.
That has not happened in any other month this year. Checked against the Food Standards Agency’s public register on 2 September, every month of 2026 from January to July produced at least one rating of 3 or below, and five of them produced a 0 or a 1.
The month in full
The 37 cover a fair cross-section of what the council’s environmental health team inspects. Seven were restaurants, cafés or canteens. Six were caring premises, mostly nurseries and care homes. Six were small catering operations working from home or from a unit. Five were mobile caterers, four were pubs, three were takeaways, three were other retailers, and one each was a supermarket, a school kitchen and a manufacturer.
Some of the names will be familiar:
- The Pepper Box Inn, Windmill Hill, Ulcombe, inspected 24 August
- The Bell at Bredhurst, and Maidstone Bowls Club on Buckland Road, both the same day
- Crown City, the Chinese restaurant on Tonbridge Road at Teston, inspected 26 August
- Café @ Plus One at Maidstone Hospital on Hermitage Lane, 13 August
- The Cock Horse at Detling, 6 August
- Gravity Active Entertainment at the Lockmeadow Centre, and Domino’s Pizza on Loose Road, both 10 August
- Stones In The Community, the catering operation at Archbishop Courtenay Church of England Primary School in Tovil, also 10 August
- The Southern Co-operative at 8 Faversham Road, Lenham, 20 August
The year so far
| Month | Ratings published | Rated 5 | Rated 3 or below |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64 | 40 | 11 |
| February | 58 | 50 | 1 |
| March | 72 | 51 | 8 |
| April | 55 | 38 | 6 |
| May | 66 | 57 | 5 |
| June | 42 | 34 | 4 |
| July | 59 | 44 | 7 |
| August | 37 | 37 | none |
The honest caveat
Thirty-seven is a low month. January to July averaged 59 ratings a month, with a high of 72 in March.
The register also publishes late. The newest Maidstone rating on it today is dated 26 August, so inspections carried out in the last week of the month have not appeared yet, and results are added as the council submits them.
Our own July round-up is the proof of that. On 5 August the register held 45 July ratings for the borough, and only one, a town centre takeaway, was below 4. The register now holds 59 July ratings, including one rated 1 and two rated 2. August’s clean sweep may not stay clean, and we will say so if it does not.
Who is still carrying a low score
A rating stays on a business until it is inspected again, so the register’s current picture is not the same as the month’s picture. Across the whole Maidstone borough register of 1,447 premises there are today 2 rated 0, 10 rated 1 and 12 rated 2. Against that, 1,147 hold a 5.
The two lowest are both on Gabriel’s Hill in the town centre, and both were rated 0, “urgent improvement necessary”:
- Esquires Coffee House, 23 Gabriel’s Hill, rated on 20 March. All three assessed areas scored badly: hygienic food handling, the cleanliness and condition of the building, and management of food safety.
- Britannic Catering, 54 Gabriel’s Hill, rated on 11 June, with the worst possible mark for confidence in management.
The most recent low score in the borough is Jade House / Sushi Boss at 46 to 48 Tonbridge Road, rated 1 on 27 July. That inspection had not been published when we wrote up July.
Every business rated under the scheme has the right to reply, which is published alongside the rating, and the right to appeal a score it believes is wrong. A business can also ask for a re-inspection once it has fixed the problems, and the register is updated when the new score is issued. None of the ratings above are a statement about the food itself: the scheme measures hygiene standards found on the day of the inspection, not quality or taste.
How the score is built
The rating is the sum of three separate marks, and the FSA publishes all three. Lower is better in each.
| What is assessed | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Hygienic food handling | Preparation, cooking, cooling, storage, what staff actually do |
| Cleanliness and condition of the building | Layout, ventilation, pest control, handwashing, the state of the premises |
| Management of food safety | The systems and records that show the business can keep it up |
That third one is usually what sinks a rating. Both of the borough’s zeros were marked down heavily on it.
What it means for you
If you are choosing where to eat. Ratings are free to look up by name or postcode at ratings.food.gov.uk, and displaying the sticker is voluntary in England, so the absence of one in a window means nothing on its own.
If you run a food business here. Inspections are carried out by Maidstone Borough Council’s food safety officers, who run the scheme jointly with the FSA. You must register the premises 28 days before you open, and register again if you take over an existing business or the ownership changes. The council also sells a pre-opening advice visit: minimum two hours, £186. Basic advice by phone or email is free, on 01622 602460 or 01622 602450.
If you think your rating is wrong. The council takes appeals, replies and requests for a re-visit through one form on its food hygiene ratings page.
If you want to report a premises. Call the council on 01622 602460 or 01622 602450. It says it will contact you within five working days, and that some reports take up to 30 days to investigate.
Related: things to do in Maidstone and Maidstone planning applications.
Have your say
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