Grades on Licences is the Environmental Health Section’s hygiene and food safety scoring programme that displays the results of food premises’ annual inspections in letter grade format – A, B, C, or D on their food licence.
Started in 2017, the publication of grades will let the public know how well Bermuda’s food establishments, including restaurants, delis, bakeries, bars, and cafes are maintaining sanitary standards in accordance with the Public Health (Food) Regulations 1950.
Annual inspections are unannounced. Environmental Health officers score the food establishment on items such as temperature control of food, personal hygiene practices, protective clothing for staff, and vermin control using a standard inspection form.
Establishments are scored on 100-point scale. Each item has an assigned point value. When there’s a violation, inspection points are deducted from the score. Points are deducted from that score based on public health significance (eg food temperature control is a critical item and is given more points). The higher number of points a food establishment scores overall, the better the grade attained.
“A” equates to 90-100 points, “B” equates to 80-89 points and “C” equates to 70-79 points. “D” is below 70 points and urgent action or consideration of closure is usually indicated for such a score. Some critical violations must be corrected immediately to remove an imminent risk to health.
Annually issued food licences, displayed inside establishments, will show the grade category from the most recent food safety inspection report, if the grade is A or B.
All grades for food establishments, including C & D grades are available here:
Establishments will be able to apply for a re-grading inspection giving them one opportunity to be re-assessed within the year; the final grade will be displayed as described on the licence and the website.
New businesses will automatically be under review for the first 2 to 3 months, when a grading inspection will be conducted.