# Number of food businesses with poor hygiene ratings in France: 14,700 in one year

> Number of food businesses with poor hygiene ratings in France: 14,700 in one year, about 85% independent. Business types, chains and French county-level areas.

Source: https://scalon.fr/en/observatory/food-businesses-haccp-compliance

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[← The Observatory](/en/observatory)

Observatory · Food hygiene

14,700 food businesses received poor hygiene inspection ratings in one year, about 85% of them independents to approach one by one. Here is how many, in which types of business, of what size, in which départements (French county-level areas), and how quickly the list changes.

By [Valentin Morterol](https://www.linkedin.com/in/valentin-morterol/) · Co-founder of Scalon

Inspections from October 2025 through September 2026 · 71,745 businesses inspected during the year · 4,450 still listed with poor ratings on November 9, 2026

The short answer

In one year, 14,700 food businesses received poor hygiene ratings in France, including 7,600 of its [186,300 restaurants](/en/observatory/number-of-restaurants-in-france). For suppliers, the key segment is about 12,600 independents outside chains, franchises and retailer groups (between 11,700 and 12,900). The official site still listed 4,450 on November 9, 2026 (Scalon Observatory).

Get the list of the 14,700 food businesses to bring into hygiene compliance, with the contact details available.

Published on October 14, 2026 · Updated on November 9, 2026 · Inspections published on Alim'Confiance (the French government's public food-safety inspection results), files from September 25, October 14 and November 9, 2026

Key figures

14,700

Food businesses with poor ratings in one year

Scalon estimate for inspections from October 2025 through September 2026 (13,600 to 15,800); 4,450 were still listed on November 9

About 85%

Poorly rated businesses that are independent of chains

About 85%, or 12,600 businesses, after checking 100 businesses drawn at random

1,400 per month

New businesses with poor ratings on the official list

1,186 added between October 14 and November 9, 2026 (26 days); almost as many leave: rebuild the list every week

## In this article

- How many poorly rated businesses, depending on your question?
- Why other sources give different numbers
- Hygiene inspection terms in plain English
- Which types of business receive poor ratings?
- Independents, chains, franchises: who receives poor ratings?
- Which networks, and who makes purchasing decisions?
- How large are the accounts? Company revenue and profiles
- Why did the inspection take place?
- Where are poorly rated businesses located?
- The market changes every month
- How do you find and understand a business's hygiene rating?
- Poorly rated: what should the business do?
- How can you use these figures for market research?
- How do you build a prospect list of poorly rated businesses?
- Frequently asked questions
- Method
- Key takeaways

## How many poorly rated businesses, depending on your question?

The answer depends on the question: 14,700 businesses received poor ratings in one year, but only 4,450 were still listed that way on November 9, 2026. Each figure in the table has its own denominator.

| Question | Answer | Basis |
| --- | --- | --- |
| How many activity units in remise directe (direct sales to consumers)? | 321,500 | Direction générale de l'alimentation (DGAL, France's food directorate), Resytal system, 2023; 49% commercial foodservice |
| How many businesses inspected during the year, with a published rating? | 71,745 | Inspections carried out from September 26, 2025 to September 24, 2026 |
| How many poorly rated in one year? | 14,700 (13,600 to 15,800) | Of the 71,745 inspected: about 1 in 5 |
| How many still listed with poor ratings on November 9? | 4,450 | Of the 65,051 businesses in that day's official file: 6.8 per 100 |
| Of which "à corriger de manière urgente" (urgent correction needed) | 330 | Of the 4,450 listed |

For market sizing, use 14,700: the number of businesses that needed to bring their operations into compliance at least once during the year. For a prospect list to call this week, use 4,450: those are the ratings still online. A business counts once, even if it has several activities rated separately, such as the departments of a supermarket.

Within the restaurant market, 7,600 restaurants received poor ratings in one year. France has 186,300 active restaurants: that is 4.1% of them. Of the 36,040 restaurants inspected during the year (19.3% of the country's restaurants), 21 per 100 received poor ratings. The two lists are built differently (the inspection file on one side, observed active restaurants on the other): of the 32,996 restaurants with a SIRET number (the French ID of a business location) in the official file of November 9, 2026, 19,847, or 6 in 10, can be matched directly to Scalon's count by that number. The 4.1% and 19.3% are therefore rough estimates. The full count is in the study on the [number of restaurants in France](/en/observatory/number-of-restaurants-in-france), of which this study covers a submarket.

## Why other sources give different numbers

Other sources give different numbers because they count different things: ratings online, inspections, administrative measures or businesses to inspect. These figures are accurate; they do not measure the same thing.

| Source | Figure | What is counted |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alim'Confiance (the French government's public food-safety inspection results) dashboard, read on November 9, 2026 | 4,267 "à améliorer" (needs improvement) and 343 "à corriger de manière urgente", out of 71,457 inspections | The dashboard calls them "businesses"; they are ratings, one per activity inspected (they add up to the 71,457 inspections). Ratings online on a given date, over a rolling period. This is not an annual count |
| DGAL, rapport d'activité 2025 | 15,600 formal notices and 1,685 closures, or 17,285 measures, from 120,765 inspections | Calendar year 2025, all inspections, published or not; measures, not businesses |
| Ministerial response of July 21, 2026 | Nearly 88,000 remise directe inspections in 2025, including nearly 70,000 by authorized contractors | Inspections, not businesses, and remise directe only |
| Plan national de contrôles 2026-2030 | More than 270,000 commercial restaurants, more than 100,000 food retailers, nearly 110,000 institutional foodservice locations | Businesses to inspect over five years |
| DGAL, Resytal, 2023 | 321,500 activity units | The entire remise directe sector, 49% commercial foodservice |

The official dashboard and our file from the same day are close: the November 9 file contains 4,628 poor ratings, corresponding to the 4,450 businesses. The dashboard reports 4,610 ratings: 18 fewer, with no update date shown.

The gap with the DGAL is larger: 17,285 measures against our 14,700 businesses. The DGAL counts measures during 2025, published or not. We count businesses with a published rating, over twelve months ending in September 2026. It is the same order of magnitude, not the same measure.

Scalon's 186,300 restaurants and the national plan's 270,000 commercial restaurants do not use the same definition. The plan counts commercial restaurants that inspection services must inspect. Scalon counts active restaurants open to the public, excluding bars. Neither figure corrects the other.

## Hygiene inspection terms in plain English

Inspection terms have precise meanings, and many readers confuse them. Here are the terms used in this article.

| Term | Plain definition |
| --- | --- |
| À améliorer | Hygiene level at which the authorities have formally ordered the operator to correct deficiencies within a deadline they set. The business stays open. |
| À corriger de manière urgente | Hygiene level at which consumer health may be in danger. It almost always comes with a closure or a halt of activity. |
| Poorly rated | In this article, at least one "à améliorer" or "à corriger de manière urgente" rating at an official inspection. |
| Follow-up visit (reinspection) | A new inspection that checks the corrections. If it goes well, its rating replaces the poor one. |
| HACCP | Hazard analysis and critical control points method. Regulations require procedures based on its principles. |
| Plan de maîtrise sanitaire (food safety management plan) | The business's documentation: good hygiene practices, HACCP procedures, traceability, management of noncompliance. |
| 14-hour hygiene training | Required for at least one person in a commercial foodservice business (décret 2011-731, arrêté du 12 février 2024). Since February 1, 2026, only organizations authorized by the préfet de région (the national government's regional representative) may provide it. |
| Remise directe | Food sales to the final consumer: restaurants, bakeries, butcher shops, supermarkets, caterers, cafeterias. |
| Approved business | A slaughterhouse or food-processing facility that sells to other professionals and holds food-safety approval. It is tracked separately from remise directe. |

An "à améliorer" rating is therefore not a final penalty. It starts a correction period, and that deadline creates a need: training, drafting the plan de maîtrise sanitaire, treating the premises.

## Which types of business receive poor ratings?

Restaurants make up a little over half of the businesses poorly rated in one year (7,600 out of 14,700), but bakeries receive poor ratings most often: 30 per 100 inspected.

| Type of business | Poorly rated in one year | Share | Per 100 inspected during the year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Restaurants | 7,595 | 51.6% | 21 |
| Bakeries and pastry shops | 2,748 | 18.7% | 30 |
| Cafeterias and institutional kitchens | 1,233 | 8.4% | 17 |
| Butcher shops and charcuteries (prepared-meat shops) | 973 | 6.6% | 25 |
| Supermarkets, grocery stores and their departments | 882 | 6.0% | 17 |
| Approved slaughterhouses, food-processing facilities and warehouses | 709 | 4.8% | 11 |
| Caterers, fish shops, cheese shops, chocolatiers | 368 | 2.5% | 14 |
| Farm producers | 197 | 1.3% | 15 |
| **Total** | **14,705** | **100%** | **20** |

The table totals 14,705; everywhere else, we round it to 14,700.

Caption: one in two poorly rated businesses is a restaurant. Food businesses rated poorly at least once in one year (14,705), by type of business, Scalon estimate. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

Each type of business forms a submarket, with its own suppliers and needs.

- **Restaurants: about 7,600.** 21 per 100 inspected during the year. The [restaurant hygiene inspection](/en/blog/restaurant-hygiene-inspection-france) guide is for operators.
- **Bakeries and pastry shops: about 2,750.** 30 per 100 inspected during the year, the highest rate. See the [bakery hygiene inspection](/en/blog/bakery-hygiene-inspection-france) guide.
- **Cafeterias and institutional kitchens: about 1,230.** 17 per 100. The decision-maker is often a public body or nonprofit (see below).
- **Butcher shops and charcuteries: about 970.** 25 per 100.
- **Supermarkets, grocery stores and departments: about 880.** 17 per 100.
- **Approved slaughterhouses, food-processing facilities and warehouses: about 710.** 11 per 100, the lowest rate.
- **Caterers, fish shops, cheese shops, chocolatiers: about 370.** 14 per 100.
- **Farm producers: about 200.** 15 per 100.

## Independents, chains, franchises: who receives poor ratings?

The segment that matters to compliance service providers is independent businesses outside chains, franchises, shared storefront names and retailer groups, which make their own purchasing decisions. About 12,600 of the businesses poorly rated in one year fall into this segment (between 11,700 and 12,900), or about 85%. Chains, franchises, retailer groups and corporate groups account for about 1,160, and public bodies and nonprofits for 980.

Our list of 190 networks initially classifies 13,150 businesses as independent (89.4%). To check this, we reviewed 100 businesses drawn at random (see the method): 4 of the 90 classified as independent actually belong to a chain or group missing from our list. The table accounts for this: about 584 businesses move to an "unidentified" row. The actual share of independents is about 85%, between 79.7% and 87.9%.

| Structure | Poorly rated in one year | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Independents outside chains, franchises and retailer groups | 12,566 | 85.5% |
| Chains or groups not identified by our list (check of 100) | 584 | 4.0% |
| Franchise chains | 329 | 2.2% |
| Company-owned chains | 74 | 0.5% |
| Retailer groups and cooperatives | 113 | 0.8% |
| Networks of unverified type | 31 | 0.2% |
| Institutional foodservice, healthcare and lodging groups | 28 | 0.2% |
| Nonprofits and foundations | 430 | 2.9% |
| Public bodies (municipalities, schools, hospitals…) | 550 | 3.7% |
| **Total** | **14,705** | **100%** |

Caption: about 85% of poorly rated businesses are independent of chains, after correction based on a check of 100 businesses. Scalon annual estimate, November 2026. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

A secondary detail: among poorly rated independents, 20% are operated by a company with several locations (790 out of 3,955 in the November 9 file). This is a detail about the decision-maker, not the market definition.

Do chains receive poor ratings less often? Yes, for the same type of business. Check the denominator: this table covers the businesses in the official November 9, 2026 file and their ratings online that day, rather than the year. That is why the rates are lower than the "per 100 inspected during the year" figures in the other tables.

| Type of business | Independents: poorly rated online on November 9, per 100 in the file | Chains or networks: poorly rated online on November 9, per 100 in the file |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Restaurants | 7.3 | 1.8 |
| Bakeries | 9.6 | 2.7 |
| Supermarkets and grocery stores | 5.6 | 4.3 |

Among restaurants in the November 9 file, 2,249 independents out of 30,918 are listed with poor ratings, compared with 35 chain restaurants out of 1,986. For ratings online, the ratio is 4.1. For new poor ratings that appeared between October 14 and November 9, it is 3.2: 2.11 independent restaurants per 100 compared with 0.65 chain restaurants per 100. Independent restaurants therefore receive poor ratings 3 to 4 times as often as chain restaurants. Franchised restaurants are at 2.1 per 100.

Caption: for the same type of business, independents receive poor ratings more often than chains, especially restaurants and bakeries. Ratings online on November 9, 2026. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

This comparison has a limitation that we measured. Chains leave the list faster: between October 14 and November 9, 33 per 100 poorly rated chain businesses left it, compared with 20 per 100 independents. The gap in ratings online is therefore somewhat inflated; that is why we also give the ratio for new poor ratings. The share shows where potential customers are, not who is cleaner.

Cafeterias have their own decision-makers. In the November 9 file, 6,765 cafeterias and institutional kitchens have been inspected and 394 are poorly rated. Half of the cafeterias inspected are public (3,385): 169 are poorly rated, or 5.0 per 100. Nonprofits account for 1,718, including 115 poorly rated (6.7 per 100). Cafeterias run by a private company outside the networks on our list account for 1,393, including 100 poorly rated (7.2 per 100): 26 of the 99 whose company is known belong to a company with 10 or more active locations (company cafeterias, kitchens of large groups), making the term "independent" unreliable for cafeterias, as it is for approved food-processing facilities. Institutional foodservice groups run 236, including 9 poorly rated (3.8 per 100). The remaining 33 inspected cafeterias, including 1 with a poor rating, belong to branded chains.

## Which networks, and who makes purchasing decisions?

In the November 9 file, 167 networks have at least one inspected business, and 54 of them have at least one poorly rated business. The network type tells you who makes purchasing decisions.

| Network type | Networks | Businesses inspected | Networks with at least one poorly rated business | Who decides |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Franchise | 100 | 2,987 | 30 | The franchisee, within the rules set by headquarters |
| Retailer group or cooperative | 7 | 842 | 6 | Each member, an independent retailer |
| Company-owned locations | 20 | 707 | 7 | Headquarters or regional management |
| Unverified type | 26 | 361 | 4 | Check network by network |
| Corporate group (institutional foodservice, healthcare, lodging) | 14 | 262 | 7 | The group's regional management |

The ten largest network operators, ranked by businesses inspected, are listed below. We do not publish the rate of poor ratings for individual chains.

| Network | Type | Businesses inspected |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Carrefour | Franchise | 656 |
| Intermarché | Retailer group | 352 |
| McDonald's | Franchise | 293 |
| Coopérative U | Retailer group | 224 |
| Marie Blachère | Franchise | 163 |
| Burger King | Franchise | 153 |
| E.Leclerc | Retailer group | 152 |
| Franprix | Franchise | 152 |
| Lidl | Company-owned locations | 142 |
| Aldi | Company-owned locations | 115 |

Overall, chain businesses (franchises, company-owned locations, retailer groups, unverified type) make up 7.5% of businesses inspected and 3.3% of poorly rated businesses: 147 out of 4,897, or 3.0 per 100.

For a supplier, this changes the sales process. A company-owned chain's headquarters can sign for its entire network. Selling to a retailer group or franchise generally means selling location by location, unless an agreement is reached with the network operator: check network by network. For public cafeterias, the contact is the municipality or public body.

## How large are the accounts? Company revenue and profiles

Half of poorly rated companies that publish their financial statements generate less than €961,000 in annual revenue. This is a narrow base: 500 companies out of 4,080.

We linked the poorly rated businesses of November 9 to their companies (counting each company once) and read financial statements published since 2023. Only 12.3% of poorly rated companies have published revenue since 2023. Published financial statements mainly cover larger organizations: revenue is published for 24.6% of locations with employees, compared with 7.8% of the others.

| Company revenue | Poorly rated (500 companies) | Inspected (8,527 companies) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Less than €250,000 | 22.8% | 17.9% |
| €250,000 to €1M | 28.6% | 25.1% |
| €1M to €10M | 28.8% | 35.3% |
| €10M and above | 19.8% | 21.6% |

Half of inspected companies that publish their financial statements generate less than €1,451,000. Among poorly rated independents (445 companies), half generate less than €746,000. Note that this group also contains 6 large companies with more than one billion euros in revenue (€43 billion among the six), whose company cafeterias are classified as outside networks; without them, half of the remaining 439 generate less than €731,000, but their combined revenue is not meaningful for an independent business. Among poorly rated restaurants (208 companies), half generate less than €423,000, compared with €696,000 for inspected restaurants (4,177 companies).

Combined revenue is not useful for sizing an account: poorly rated companies that publish their financial statements total €107 billion, but the largest 10% account for 98.3% of it. These are large groups, often owning many locations. For training or audit services, the useful account size is the revenue threshold below which half of companies fall: less than €423,000 for restaurants, less than €961,000 across all business types.

Company profiles add to the picture of account size. Poorly rated businesses are slightly newer and slightly more often run as sole proprietorships (private businesses, excluding public bodies and nonprofits).

Specifically: 18.0% of poorly rated businesses are less than 2 years old, compared with 15.7% of those inspected; 13.7% are run as sole proprietorships, compared with 12.1%.

The full profile (Sirene business register)

| Profile (Sirene register) | Poorly rated (4,111 businesses) | Inspected (59,362 businesses) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business location created less than 2 years ago | 18.0% | 15.7% |
| Created 2 to 5 years ago | 29.0% | 29.7% |
| Created 6 to 15 years ago | 32.3% | 32.1% |
| Created more than 15 years ago | 20.7% | 22.5% |
| Run as a sole proprietorship | 13.7% | 12.1% |
| Location with employees | 54.9% | 58.7% |
| Company with several active locations | 20.8% | 24.4% |

The gap is wider for restaurants: 23.2% of poorly rated restaurants are less than 2 years old, compared with 20.0% of inspected restaurants.

Two economic signals add to this. Among poorly rated companies matched in our business-event database (1,877), 2.5% have undergone insolvency proceedings, compared with 1.5% of inspected companies (25,939). And 11.0% have had a business asset acquisition since 2024, compared with 12.9% of those inspected. Insolvency proceedings do not explain why the rating is poor. They indicate a financially vulnerable customer: approach with a clear offer and a firm price.

**Selling to food businesses to bring into hygiene compliance?** Get the list for your area and your target, ready to call.

## Why did the inspection take place?

Inspections triggered by a signal (complaint, foodborne illness, targeted inspection) result in nearly 1 poor rating in 5, compared with 7 per 100 for routine inspections. One in 5 inspections prompted by a complaint results in a poor rating. Ratings online on November 9, 2026 mostly come from routine inspections.

| Reason for inspection (ratings online on November 9, 2026) | Ratings | Poor ratings | Per 100 ratings |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Routine inspection | 53,272 | 3,808 | 7.1 |
| Follow-up visit (reinspection) | 14,186 | 218 | 1.5 |
| Targeted inspection | 1,544 | 292 | 18.9 |
| Complaint or report | 1,019 | 205 | 20.1 |
| Toxi-infection alimentaire collective (TIAC, foodborne illness outbreak) | 521 | 96 | 18.4 |
| Approval application | 923 | 9 | 1.0 |
| **Total** | **71,465** | **4,628** | **6.5** |

Inspections triggered by a complaint, foodborne illness or a targeted inspection together result in 19.2 poor ratings per 100 (593 out of 3,084), compared with 7.1 for routine inspections. They account for 12.8% of poor ratings.

For a service provider, this is a useful filter. A business rated poorly after a complaint or foodborne illness has an urgent need and strong motivation. A business rated poorly at a routine inspection also has a deadline to meet, but the need is less pressing.

## Where are poorly rated businesses located?

The départements (French county-level areas) of Paris, Nord and Seine-Saint-Denis have the most poorly rated businesses in one year: about 930, 690 and 550. These numbers cover all food businesses, not only restaurants.

| Département | Poorly rated in one year (estimate) | Per 100 inspected during the year | Listed with poor ratings on November 9 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Paris | 930 | 18 | 233 |
| Nord | 690 | 34 | 169 |
| Seine-Saint-Denis | 550 | 29 | 127 |
| Bouches-du-Rhône | 540 | 23 | 191 |
| Rhône | 530 | 24 | 97 |
| Alpes-Maritimes | 450 | 22 | 107 |

The last column gives the number of businesses listed with poor ratings on the official site on November 9, 2026. The full table, with your département, is just below.

Your département: the full table

| Département | Poorly rated in one year (estimate) | Listed with poor ratings on November 9 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ain (01) | 120 | 43 |
| Aisne (02) | 100 | 32 |
| Allier (03) | 78 | 24 |
| Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) | 30 | 17 |
| Hautes-Alpes (05) | 50 | 11 |
| Alpes-Maritimes (06) | 450 | 107 |
| Ardèche (07) | 80 | 32 |
| Ardennes (08) | 31 | 10 |
| Ariège (09) | 32 | 8 |
| Aube (10) | 34 | 14 |
| Aude (11) | 81 | 28 |
| Aveyron (12) | 59 | 28 |
| Bouches-du-Rhône (13) | 540 | 191 |
| Calvados (14) | 180 | 63 |
| Cantal (15) | 68 | 32 |
| Charente (16) | 79 | 20 |
| Charente-Maritime (17) | 90 | 11 |
| Cher (18) | 58 | 31 |
| Corrèze (19) | 57 | 25 |
| Côte-d'Or (21) | 110 | 27 |
| Côtes-d'Armor (22) | 78 | 25 |
| Creuse (23) | 29 | 11 |
| Dordogne (24) | 70 | 23 |
| Doubs (25) | 100 | 54 |
| Drôme (26) | 100 | 28 |
| Eure (27) | 82 | 31 |
| Eure-et-Loir (28) | 88 | 14 |
| Finistère (29) | 92 | 28 |
| Gard (30) | 210 | 50 |
| Haute-Garonne (31) | 250 | 55 |
| Gers (32) | 51 | 17 |
| Gironde (33) | 300 | 77 |
| Hérault (34) | 280 | 88 |
| Ille-et-Vilaine (35) | 130 | 34 |
| Indre (36) | 53 | 14 |
| Indre-et-Loire (37) | 72 | 16 |
| Isère (38) | 200 | 67 |
| Jura (39) | 46 | 26 |
| Landes (40) | 82 | 23 |
| Loir-et-Cher (41) | 31 | 10 |
| Loire (42) | 150 | 48 |
| Haute-Loire (43) | 74 | 38 |
| Loire-Atlantique (44) | 130 | 35 |
| Loiret (45) | 180 | 63 |
| Lot (46) | 39 | 20 |
| Lot-et-Garonne (47) | 93 | 35 |
| Lozère (48) | 32 | 14 |
| Maine-et-Loire (49) | 69 | 15 |
| Manche (50) | 81 | 31 |
| Marne (51) | 36 | 5 |
| Haute-Marne (52) | 32 | 7 |
| Mayenne (53) | 58 | 19 |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 53 | 20 |
| Meuse (55) | 34 | 15 |
| Morbihan (56) | 200 | 64 |
| Moselle (57) | 110 | 47 |
| Nièvre (58) | 38 | 19 |
| Nord (59) | 690 | 169 |
| Oise (60) | 140 | 40 |
| Orne (61) | 92 | 68 |
| Pas-de-Calais (62) | 200 | 67 |
| Puy-de-Dôme (63) | 200 | 58 |
| Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64) | 120 | 32 |
| Hautes-Pyrénées (65) | 110 | 39 |
| Pyrénées-Orientales (66) | 140 | 43 |
| Bas-Rhin (67) | 220 | 79 |
| Haut-Rhin (68) | 130 | 36 |
| Rhône (69) | 530 | 97 |
| Haute-Saône (70) | 24 | 16 |
| Saône-et-Loire (71) | 100 | 52 |
| Sarthe (72) | 100 | 35 |
| Savoie (73) | 190 | 64 |
| Haute-Savoie (74) | 270 | 65 |
| Paris (75) | 930 | 233 |
| Seine-Maritime (76) | 270 | 95 |
| Seine-et-Marne (77) | 270 | 51 |
| Yvelines (78) | 280 | 81 |
| Deux-Sèvres (79) | 73 | 9 |
| Somme (80) | 99 | 21 |
| Tarn (81) | 76 | 16 |
| Tarn-et-Garonne (82) | 52 | 25 |
| Var (83) | 350 | 103 |
| Vaucluse (84) | 100 | 32 |
| Vendée (85) | 120 | 42 |
| Vienne (86) | 47 | 3 |
| Haute-Vienne (87) | 38 | 12 |
| Vosges (88) | 79 | 43 |
| Yonne (89) | 56 | 18 |
| Territoire de Belfort (90) | 36 | 14 |
| Essonne (91) | 310 | 72 |
| Hauts-de-Seine (92) | 420 | 78 |
| Seine-Saint-Denis (93) | 550 | 127 |
| Val-de-Marne (94) | 450 | 79 |
| Val-d'Oise (95) | 290 | 71 |
| Corse-du-Sud (2A) | 76 | 32 |
| Haute-Corse (2B) | 72 | 38 |
| Guadeloupe (971) | 120 | 60 |
| Martinique (972) | 20 | 9 |
| Guyane (973) | 32 | 15 |
| La Réunion (974) | 56 | 25 |
| Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (975) | 0 | 0 |
| Mayotte (976) | 82 | 41 |
| Saint-Barthélemy (977) | 0 | 0 |
| Saint-Martin (978) | 1 | 1 |
| Département not specified in the file | — | 104 |
| **Total** | **14,704** | **4,450** |

The rows are rounded; the total is the exact sum across départements.

Taking the type of business into account, 10 départements have more poorly rated businesses during the year than the benchmark, and 14 have fewer, out of the 92 we were able to compare. The benchmark is the number of businesses that would be poorly rated if each type of business in the département had the same rate as nationwide. It is not a permissible quota of poor ratings. A département above the benchmark does not necessarily have less clean businesses: inspections may be organized differently there.

Here is an example above the benchmark. Of the 266 businesses inspected in Guadeloupe, about 120 were poorly rated during the year, or 45 per 100, when the benchmark is 20. And an example below: of the 1,276 businesses inspected in Loire-Atlantique, about 130, or 11 per 100, when the benchmark is 21.

Your département: the full comparison

| Département | Businesses inspected | Poorly rated in one year, per 100 | Benchmark per 100 | Reading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ain | 653 | 19 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Aisne | 391 | 26 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Allier | 345 | 22 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 270 | 11 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Hautes-Alpes | 394 | 13 | 19 | below the benchmark |
| Alpes-Maritimes | 2,020 | 22 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Ardèche | 677 | 12 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Ardennes | 206 | 15 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Ariège | 282 | 11 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Aube | 305 | 11 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Aude | 597 | 14 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Aveyron | 315 | 19 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Bouches-du-Rhône | 2,332 | 23 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Calvados | 617 | 29 | 21 | above the benchmark |
| Cantal | 234 | 29 | 18 | above the benchmark |
| Charente | 336 | 24 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Charente-Maritime | 817 | 11 | 20 | below the benchmark |
| Cher | 304 | 19 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Corrèze | 295 | 19 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Côte-d'Or | 442 | 26 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Côtes-d'Armor | 632 | 12 | 18 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Creuse | 221 | 13 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Dordogne | 626 | 11 | 20 | below the benchmark |
| Doubs | 416 | 24 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Drôme | 743 | 13 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Eure | 368 | 22 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Eure-et-Loir | 398 | 22 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Finistère | 769 | 12 | 20 | below the benchmark |
| Gard | 1,025 | 20 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Haute-Garonne | 1,530 | 16 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Gers | 270 | 19 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Gironde | 1,496 | 20 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Hérault | 1,862 | 15 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Ille-et-Vilaine | 867 | 15 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Indre | 211 | 25 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Indre-et-Loire | 384 | 19 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Isère | 1,301 | 16 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Jura | 302 | 15 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Landes | 619 | 13 | 20 | below the benchmark |
| Loir-et-Cher | 177 | 18 | 20 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Loire | 828 | 18 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Haute-Loire | 449 | 16 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Loire-Atlantique | 1,276 | 11 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Loiret | 588 | 31 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Lot | 180 | 22 | 21 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Lot-et-Garonne | 444 | 21 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Lozère | 166 | 19 | 20 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Maine-et-Loire | 586 | 12 | 20 | below the benchmark |
| Manche | 567 | 14 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Marne | 571 | 6 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Haute-Marne | 239 | 13 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Mayenne | 250 | 23 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle | 449 | 12 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Meuse | 180 | 19 | 20 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Morbihan | 995 | 20 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Moselle | 1,031 | 11 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Nièvre | 157 | 24 | 20 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Nord | 2,045 | 34 | 21 | above the benchmark |
| Oise | 550 | 25 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Orne | 311 | 30 | 19 | above the benchmark |
| Pas-de-Calais | 893 | 22 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Puy-de-Dôme | 781 | 26 | 20 | above the benchmark |
| Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 763 | 16 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Hautes-Pyrénées | 369 | 31 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Pyrénées-Orientales | 884 | 16 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Bas-Rhin | 982 | 23 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Haut-Rhin | 579 | 22 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Rhône | 2,218 | 24 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Haute-Saône | 126 | 19 | 20 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Saône-et-Loire | 633 | 16 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Sarthe | 532 | 20 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Savoie | 732 | 26 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Haute-Savoie | 1,112 | 24 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Paris | 5,185 | 18 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Seine-Maritime | 1,025 | 26 | 20 | above the benchmark |
| Seine-et-Marne | 955 | 29 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Yvelines | 882 | 32 | 21 | above the benchmark |
| Deux-Sèvres | 350 | 21 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Somme | 394 | 25 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Tarn | 486 | 16 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Tarn-et-Garonne | 336 | 15 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Var | 2,132 | 16 | 21 | below the benchmark |
| Vaucluse | 665 | 16 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Vendée | 722 | 16 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Vienne | 319 | 15 | 20 | below the benchmark |
| Haute-Vienne | 261 | 15 | 22 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Vosges | 434 | 18 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Yonne | 253 | 22 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Territoire de Belfort | 117 | 31 | 21 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Essonne | 990 | 31 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Hauts-de-Seine | 1,309 | 32 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Seine-Saint-Denis | 1,885 | 29 | 21 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Val-de-Marne | 1,626 | 28 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Val-d'Oise | 977 | 30 | 21 | above the benchmark |
| Corse-du-Sud | 408 | 19 | 20 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Haute-Corse | 513 | 14 | 19 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Guadeloupe | 266 | 45 | 20 | above the benchmark |
| Martinique | 254 | 8 | 18 | no gap established with the benchmark |
| Guyane | 88 | 36 | 19 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| La Réunion | 219 | 26 | 17 | above the benchmark |
| Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon | 5 | 0 | 16 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Mayotte | 136 | 60 | 22 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Saint-Barthélemy | 2 | 0 | 14 | under 200 businesses: not compared |
| Saint-Martin | 9 | 8 | 19 | under 200 businesses: not compared |

The full lists of départements above and below the benchmark

Above the benchmark (10): Guadeloupe, Cantal, Nord, Orne, Yvelines, La Réunion, Val-d'Oise, Calvados, Seine-Maritime, Puy-de-Dôme.

Below the benchmark (14): Marne, Loire-Atlantique, Charente-Maritime, Dordogne, Maine-et-Loire, Finistère, Hautes-Alpes, Landes, Vienne, Hérault, Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn, Var, Haute-Garonne.

For the other 68 départements compared, our study cannot conclude that there are more or fewer poorly rated businesses than the benchmark.

Regions provide another scale. This view uses ratings online on November 9, 2026, per 100 businesses in the file (rather than the annual count used for départements). Among the regions of metropolitan France (European France, including Corsica), the share of poorly rated businesses ranges from 4.8 per 100 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine to 11.1 in Normandie. In overseas territories, the share reaches 26.7 in Guadeloupe and 39.8 in Mayotte, based on small numbers of businesses.

Regions: businesses in the November 9 file and poor ratings online

| Region | Businesses in the file | Poorly rated online | Per 100 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Île-de-France | 12,325 | 792 | 6.4 |
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 9,047 | 596 | 6.6 |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | 6,958 | 461 | 6.6 |
| Occitanie | 7,182 | 431 | 6.0 |
| Hauts-de-France | 3,813 | 329 | 8.6 |
| Normandie | 2,583 | 288 | 11.1 |
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 5,829 | 281 | 4.8 |
| Grand Est | 4,357 | 276 | 6.3 |
| Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 2,170 | 226 | 10.4 |
| Bretagne | 2,899 | 151 | 5.2 |
| Centre-Val de Loire | 1,807 | 148 | 8.2 |
| Pays de la Loire | 2,925 | 146 | 5.0 |
| Corse | 758 | 70 | 9.2 |
| Guadeloupe | 225 | 60 | 26.7 |
| Mayotte | 103 | 41 | 39.8 |
| La Réunion | 182 | 25 | 13.7 |
| Guyane | 90 | 15 | 16.7 |
| Martinique | 227 | 9 | 4.0 |
| Saint-Martin | 12 | 1 | 8.3 |
| Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon | 3 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Saint-Barthélemy | 2 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Unspecified region | 1,554 | 104 | 6.7 |
| **Total** | **65,051** | **4,450** | **6.8** |

Regions are ranked by number of poorly rated businesses, with the unspecified region last. The count shows where potential customers are; the share shows where inspections most often found a problem.

## The market changes every month

The number of businesses listed with poor ratings stays roughly stable, but the list changes constantly: 4,335 on September 25, 4,305 on October 14, 4,450 on November 9, 2026.

Between October 14 and November 9 (26 days), 1,186 businesses joined the list and 1,041 left it. Of those that left, 824 were reinspected without a poor rating and 217 were removed from the site. Another 3,264 remained, or 76 per 100.

That amounts to about 1,400 businesses newly listed with poor ratings per month (1,368 scaled to 30 days). This is consistent with the annual count: 14,700 over twelve months, or an average of 1,226 per month.

For prospecting, the implication is simple: work from a list of poorly rated businesses each week. A three-month-old file has lost entries, including businesses that have already corrected their deficiencies, and misses recent additions.

Three-week follow-up: what happens to poor ratings?

Between September 25 and October 14, 2026, we tracked the 4,485 poor ratings online on September 25 (4,335 businesses). 16 per 100 were replaced by a good rating.

| Poor ratings, from September 25 to October 14, 2026 | Number |
| --- | --- |
| Poor ratings online on September 25 | 4,485 |
| … still there on October 14, with no new inspection | 3,572 |
| … replaced by a good rating after a new inspection | 698 |
| … reinspected at a follow-up visit and still rated poorly | 14 |
| … removed from the site: inspection more than a year old | 106 |
| … removed from the site with no reason given | 95 |
| New poor ratings that appeared between the two dates | 888 |
| **Poor ratings online on October 14** | **4,474** |

The count adds up: 4,485 ratings, minus the 899 ratings replaced or removed, plus the 888 new ones, make 4,474. For the ratings that were replaced, the new inspection generally took place 3 months after the poor rating. A rating removed from the site is not a correction: it drops out after a year, or with no reason given. Among ratings from August and September inspections, those that arrived late are more often poor (23 per 100) than those already online on September 25 (12 per 100).

## How do you find and understand a business's hygiene rating?

Six steps are enough to find a business on Alim'Confiance.

Finding and reading a rating

**1.** **Search for the business.** On alimconfiance.agriculture.gouv.fr, type its name or its city.

**2.** **Check the address.** Several businesses can have the same name: read only the listing at the right address.

**3.** **Read the date and the level together.** A rating stays online for 1 year from the date of the inspection. A business with a recent poor rating is often still awaiting a follow-up inspection.

**4.** **Understand the two poor ratings.** "À améliorer": the authorities require the manager to fix the problems within a deadline they set (this is a formal notice). This is the case for the 4,152 ratings of this level shown on September 25. "À corriger de manière urgente": consumer health may be in danger, and 322 of the 333 ratings of this level led to a closure or a halt of activity.

**5.** **A missing listing proves nothing.** Three cases are possible. The business was not inspected during the year. Or the inspection is recent but not yet online: the operator has 15 days to submit comments before the rating goes online. Or the rating was removed, after a year or with no reason given. A missing listing says neither that there was no inspection, nor that everything is fine, nor that the business is closed.

**6.** **A recent good rating can follow a poor one.** A well-rated follow-up visit erases the earlier poor rating: the listing does not show the history.

The other food businesses have no rating online; among restaurants, more than 4 in 5 have none: 33,102 restaurants have a rating online on November 9, 2026, out of 186,300 active restaurants (a rough estimate, since the two lists are built differently). Did you see a problem on site? The [restaurant hygiene inspection](/en/blog/restaurant-hygiene-inspection-france) guide explains how to report it.

## Poorly rated: what should the business do?

A business rated "à améliorer" must correct its deficiencies within the deadline set by the authorities, then undergo a new inspection.

What to do after a poor rating

**1.** **Submit your comments.** Before the rating goes online, the operator has 15 days to submit comments.

**2.** **Note the deadline in the formal notice.** It requires corrective measures within a deadline set by the authorities.

**3.** **Make corrections with your plan de maîtrise sanitaire in hand.** Regulations require procedures based on HACCP principles (hazard analysis and critical control points), within a plan de maîtrise sanitaire. In commercial foodservice, at least one person must have completed hygiene training: a minimum of 14 hours, unless a manager can demonstrate at least 3 years of experience as a manager or operator in the food sector.

**4.** **Prepare for the follow-up visit.** A new inspection checks that the corrective measures are in place; if it goes well, the new rating replaces the poor one.

**5.** **Urgent case: expect to close.** In an emergency, the authorities can order an immediate closure, or a halt of activities, until measures that allow reopening are in place (Code rural, article L233-1).

Each step leads to a purchase. Here is what the business needs and who supplies it.

| Business's stage | Need | Who can sell it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Formal notice, deadline set | Assessment of the premises and action plan | Hygiene consultants, audit firms |
| Plan de maîtrise sanitaire | HACCP procedures, temperature logs, traceability | Consultants, traceability software vendors |
| 14-hour training | Course with an organization authorized by the préfet de région | Training organizations |
| Pests, deteriorating premises | Rodent control, cleaning, disinfection, repairs | Pest control and cleaning companies |
| Food storage | Refrigeration equipment, probes, laboratory testing | Refrigeration contractors, laboratories |

### And if nothing is corrected?

If the corrections requested in the formal notice are not made, the fine can reach €1,500, or €3,000 for a repeat offense (a 5th-class contravention, Code rural, article R. 205-6). Failing to comply with a closure decision is punishable by 2 years in prison and a €30,000 fine (Code rural, article L. 237-2).

To challenge a decision, a recours gracieux (informal appeal) is a complaint sent to the authority that made it, within 2 months (3 months in overseas territories). The guide on [what to do after an "à améliorer" rating](/en/blog/restaurant-hygiene-inspection-france) gives the details. Our file does not publish the reasons for the ratings. For example, the préfecture de Seine-et-Marne (the local office of France's national government) cites pests, rodents and a loss of food traceability as reasons for closures. It also cites food kept past its use-by date, deteriorating premises and poor storage conditions.

## How can you use these figures for market research?

These figures serve four purposes: sizing the market, segmenting it, choosing a territory and tracking a changing market.

### Size an addressable market

An offering for all food businesses starts with 14,700 poorly rated businesses in one year. It breaks down as follows: about 12,600 independents to approach one by one; about 1,160 locations in chains, franchises, retailer groups and corporate groups, which can also be approached through their network operators; 980 public bodies and nonprofits, where the buyer is the municipality, public body or nonprofit.

### Segment the market

Break down business types by structure. The 7,600 poorly rated restaurants require a different sales approach from the 2,750 bakeries: among those in the November 9 file, independent restaurants are poorly rated at 7.3 per 100, independent bakeries at 9.6.

### Choose a territory

Counts (Paris 930, Nord 690) show the scale. To compare two départements, relate them to businesses inspected: 34 per 100 inspected during the year in Nord, 18 in Paris.

### Track a changing market

About 1,400 businesses join the list each month, and almost as many leave. A study needs a date and regular updates: the Observatory publishes its counts with their dates and methods.

Need the list of food businesses to bring into hygiene compliance? We send it with the contact details available, for the scope you choose.

## How do you build a prospect list of poorly rated businesses?

A good list starts with the official source, matches it to public listings and is updated every week. Five points determine its quality.

1. **Start with the official file.** The public Alim'Confiance file provides an address for 99.2% of businesses and a valid SIRET number for 99.7%. It is the most reliable starting point for identifying a business.
2. **Match phone numbers and websites.** The official file provides the address; phone numbers and websites come from other public listings and business directories. Among the 1,329 poorly rated restaurants matched to our public business listings, 44.3% have a website, compared with 47.4% of inspected restaurants. Limitation: we have not measured phone or email coverage, or websites for other business types; matching still needs to be done business by business.
3. **Filter by structure.** Independent, network operator or public body: the contact and sales pitch differ (see the networks).
4. **Keep up with the pace.** About 1,400 businesses join the list each month, almost as many leave: rebuild the list every week; a three-month-old file has lost a large share of its entries.
5. **Comply with the GDPR.** Use business contact addresses for outreach, explain where the contact information comes from and respect the right to object. A sole proprietor is still an individual: their listing requires extra care.

Scalon's [market size calculator](/en/tools/local-tam) helps define this scope before placing an order.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many food businesses have poor hygiene ratings in France?

14,700 in one year, according to Scalon's estimate for inspections carried out from September 26, 2025 to September 24, 2026, or about 1 inspected business in 5. The official site showed only 4,450 on November 9, 2026.

### How many restaurants receive poor ratings?

About 7,600 in one year, out of 186,300 active restaurants in France (4.1%, a rough estimate: the two lists are built differently). Of 100 restaurants inspected during the year, 21 received poor ratings.

### What share of poorly rated businesses are independent?

About 85%, or about 12,600 businesses out of 14,700. Chains, franchises, retailer groups and corporate groups account for about 1,160, public bodies and nonprofits for 980.

### How many closures?

Only "à corriger de manière urgente" ratings come with a closure or a halt of activity: 322 times out of 333 among ratings online on September 25, 2026. The DGAL counts 1,685 closures in 2025, across all inspections.

### How long does a rating stay online?

A year from the inspection date. A follow-up visit replaces the previous rating.

### Does a poor rating mean closure?

No, not in general. An "à améliorer" rating is a formal notice: the business stays open and makes corrections.

### Does the business have to display its rating?

No. According to Service-public.fr, businesses do not have to display their hygiene rating on their storefronts. Businesses only have the option to display it.

### Is hygiene training mandatory?

Yes, in commercial foodservice: at least one person must have completed 14 hours of training, unless a manager can demonstrate 3 years of experience as a manager or operator in the food sector. Since February 1, 2026, only organizations authorized by the préfet de région may provide it.

## Do you sell to food businesses?

Do you sell to food businesses?

Hygiene consultants, training organizations, pest control or cleaning companies, traceability software vendors: Scalon links each poorly rated business to its company and public contact information, and identifies those that belong to a network. A poor rating does not say what the business was cited for: check the current rating and its date before any outreach.

[Professionals: get a list of 100 businesses in my area](/en#call)

## Method

The ratings come from the official Alim'Confiance file, published by the DGAL, extracted on September 25, October 14 and November 9, 2026. The annual count reconstructs inspections from September 26, 2025 to September 24, 2026. The structural classification matches each business to the Sirene register and a dictionary of networks documented by public pages. To check this classification, Scalon randomly drew 100 of the 4,450 businesses listed with poor ratings on November 9, 2026 and reviewed them twice, independently. The two reviews agree on business type for 100 businesses out of 100 and on structure for 97 out of 100; the 3 disagreements were resolved. Our classification gets the business type wrong for 1 business out of 100 (at most 5 out of 100) and the structure for 5 out of 100 (at most 11 out of 100): 4 of the 90 classified as independent belong to a group or chain missing from our list, hence the corrected share of about 85%.

Method details and limitations

- **Counting unit**: a business is a 14-digit SIRET number; units without a valid SIRET number each count as one business. It is "poorly rated" if at least one of its units was rated "à améliorer" or "à corriger de manière urgente".
- **Files read**: official files from September 25, 2026 (72,102 ratings, 65,101 businesses, 4,335 poorly rated), October 14 (71,373 ratings, 4,305 poorly rated businesses) and November 9 (71,465 ratings, 65,051 businesses, 4,450 poorly rated including 330 "à corriger de manière urgente"; inspections from November 10, 2025 to November 6, 2026).
- **Annual reconstruction**: the file keeps only the latest rating for each activity. We add the 4,485 poor ratings displayed on September 25, the 888 posted late, about 8,642 poor ratings erased by 13,425 well-rated follow-up visits (each visit is weighted by the probability that it replaced a poor rating) and about 1,127 poor ratings removed from the site with no reason given. Total: about 15,142 ratings, or 14,706 businesses, rounded to 14,700. Depending on the assumption for visits whose previous rating is unknown: 13,569 to 15,839 businesses. Of 400 calculations rerun with different assumptions, 95 out of 100 give between 13,397 and 15,973. Not counted: poor ratings erased by a second visit and late-September ratings not yet online; these pull the total down. Businesses inspected in one year (71,745) are derived using the same calculation.
- **No new annual estimate**: the September 25 export, the basis of the reconstruction, is no longer retained. The annual total is the one from October 14. The three snapshots of the file (September 25, October 14, November 9) show that the pace has not changed.
- **Central purchasing organizations and labels**: the official file does not say whether a business without a shared storefront name belongs to a central purchasing organization or carries a miller's label (these labels appear only 21 times among 71,465 ratings). These members therefore remain counted as independents; retailer groups with a shared storefront name have their own row. A booking platform is never counted as a network.
- **Structure**: networks = storefront names from a dictionary of 190 networks whose type is documented by public pages (franchise: franchisee recruitment page; company-owned locations: at least 90% of matched locations under the same company; retailer group: public source; corporate group: owner cited). Public bodies and nonprofits = legal category in the register. Independent = the rest. The annual estimate by structure distributes each business type's annual total according to the structure of that type's poorly rated businesses listed on November 9.
- **Check of 100 businesses**: random draw (seed 20261109) from the 4,450 listed with poor ratings, two independent reviews of business type and structure, three disagreements resolved. Business-type error 1% (upper bound 5.4%), structure error 5% (upper bound 11.2%). Of the 90 classified as independent, 4 belong to a group or chain: corrected share 85.5% (between 79.7% and 87.9%), or 12,566 businesses.
- **Revenue and profile**: Sirene register as of September 24, 2026 for age, legal form, headcount; financial statements published since 2023, positive revenue, each company counted once. Financial statements found for 500 of the 4,080 poorly rated companies (12.3%) and 8,527 of the 56,098 inspected companies (15.2%). Insolvency proceedings and business asset acquisitions: business-event database covering 1,877 poorly rated companies and 25,939 inspected companies.
- **Limitations of the structural classification**: the annual estimate by structure distributes each business type's total according to the structure of businesses with poor ratings online on November 9. Since chains leave the list faster (33 per 100 in 26 days, compared with 20 per 100 for independents), it slightly overestimates the share of independents; the difference stays within the published range (11,700 to 12,900). The ratio between independent and chain restaurants is 4.1 for ratings online (95 times out of 100, between 3.0 and 5.7) and 3.2 for new poor ratings from October 14 to November 9 (between 1.9 and 5.6).
- **Revenue, precision**: the middle value is €961,000 for poorly rated companies (95 times out of 100, between €768,000 and €1,135,000), €423,000 for poorly rated restaurants (between €327,000 and €559,000) and €696,000 for inspected restaurants (between €647,000 and €748,000), based on 2,000 repeated draws of companies.
- **Départements**: annual estimate using the same reconstruction; 92 départements have at least 200 businesses inspected and are compared. A gap is retained only if it also appears in displayed ratings, for the same inspection month and type of business, in both data pulls.
- **Limitations**: ratings online on November 9 depend on the pace of follow-up visits; a rating removed from the site is not a correction; chains missing from our dictionary remain classified as independent; published financial statements overrepresent large companies. Shares are rounded to one decimal place; they do not always add up to exactly 100%. Numbers of 100 and above are rounded to the nearest ten in département tables.
- **Cost**: public files, one read of the local register and two read queries on the graph; no paid calls.

## Key takeaways

- 14,700 food businesses received poor hygiene ratings in one year, including 7,600 restaurants; 4,450 were still listed that way on November 9, 2026.
- About 85% are independents outside chains, franchises and retailer groups: about 12,600 owners to approach one by one.
- For the same type of business, independent restaurants receive poor ratings 3 to 4 times as often as chain restaurants (7.3 versus 1.8 per 100 restaurants in the November 9 file; 2.11 versus 0.65 for new poor ratings).
- Half of poorly rated companies that publish their financial statements generate less than €961,000: the appropriate sales prospect is a small organization.
- About 1,400 businesses join the list each month, almost as many leave: rebuild the list every week; a three-month-old file has lost a large share of its entries.

The full study · PDF

## The study runs to 51 pages, we will send it

Everything is on this page, and you can cite it without asking. The PDF holds the whole study, tables, figures, method and sources, in one document to keep, print or pass on. It goes out by email, right away.

1. 01How many poorly rated businesses, depending on your question?
2. 02Why other sources give different numbers
3. 03Hygiene inspection terms in plain English
4. 04Which types of business receive poor ratings?
5. 05Independents, chains, franchises: who receives poor ratings?
6. 06Which networks, and who makes purchasing decisions?
7. 07How large are the accounts? Company revenue and profiles
8. 08Why did the inspection take place?
9. 09Where are poorly rated businesses located?
10. 10The market changes every month
11. 11How do you find and understand a business's hygiene rating?
12. 12Poorly rated: what should the business do?
13. 13How can you use these figures for market research?
14. 14How do you build a prospect list of poorly rated businesses?
15. 15Frequently asked questions
16. 16Do you sell to food businesses?
17. 17Method
18. 18Key takeaways

Free, no conditions. To cite a figure, use the reference given under “Cite this study”, with Scalon and the date of the edition.

## Cite this study

> Scalon Observatory, "Number of food businesses with poor hygiene ratings in France: 14,700 in one year," November 9, 2026: about 14,700 food businesses received at least one poor hygiene inspection rating between September 26, 2025 and September 24, 2026, or about 1 inspected business in 5; about 85% are independents outside chains; 4,450 were still listed with poor ratings on Alim'Confiance (direction générale de l'alimentation) on November 9, 2026. https://scalon.fr/en/observatory/food-businesses-haccp-compliance

## Sources

The official texts, studies and data used.

See the sources

- Direction générale de l'alimentation (DGAL), Alim'Confiance data, exports of September 25, October 14 and November 9, 2026: [https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/resultats-des-controles-officiels-sanitaires-dispositif-dinformation-alimconfiance/](https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/resultats-des-controles-officiels-sanitaires-dispositif-dinformation-alimconfiance/)
- Alim'Confiance, national dashboard, read on November 9, 2026: [https://alimconfiance.agriculture.gouv.fr/dashboard](https://alimconfiance.agriculture.gouv.fr/dashboard)
- DGAL, "La DGAL en action", rapport d'activité 2025, table "Les contrôles en sécurité sanitaire des aliments", p. 25, September 17, 2026: [https://agriculture.gouv.fr/telecharger/156038](https://agriculture.gouv.fr/telecharger/156038)
- DGAL, instruction technique 2023-756, December 7, 2023 (Resytal, 321,500 activity units): [https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/instruction-2023-756/telechargement](https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/instruction-2023-756/telechargement)
- Plan national de contrôles officiels pluriannuel 2026-2030, June 30, 2026: [https://www.vie-publique.fr/files/rapport/pdf/304538.pdf](https://www.vie-publique.fr/files/rapport/pdf/304538.pdf)
- Assemblée nationale, réponse à la question écrite n° 13275, published on July 21, 2026: [https://questions.assemblee-nationale.fr/q17/17-13275QE.htm](https://questions.assemblee-nationale.fr/q17/17-13275QE.htm)
- DGAL, bilan 2024 de la sécurité sanitaire des aliments, reported by Process Alimentaire, May 23, 2025: [https://www.processalimentaire.com/qualite/la-dgal-dresse-le-bilan-d-une-annee-2024-marquee-par-l-action](https://www.processalimentaire.com/qualite/la-dgal-dresse-le-bilan-d-une-annee-2024-marquee-par-l-action)
- Décret n° 2011-731 du 24 juin 2011 relatif à l'obligation de formation à l'hygiène: [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000024266465](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000024266465)
- Arrêté du 12 février 2024 (formation à l'hygiène en restauration commerciale): [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000049171606](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000049171606)
- DGAL, instruction technique 2026-185, April 3, 2026 (14-hour training, authorized organizations): [https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/instruction-2026-185](https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/instruction-2026-185)
- Service-public.fr, information page F34201, August 22, 2025 (rechecked on November 9, 2026): [https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F34201](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F34201)
- Alim'Confiance, questions-réponses (undated, 2017): [https://alimconfiance.agriculture.gouv.fr/faq](https://alimconfiance.agriculture.gouv.fr/faq)
- Ministère de l'Agriculture, "Alim'confiance : les résultats des contrôles sanitaires accessibles à tous", April 3, 2017: [https://agriculture.gouv.fr/alimconfiance-les-resultats-des-controles-sanitaires-accessibles-tous](https://agriculture.gouv.fr/alimconfiance-les-resultats-des-controles-sanitaires-accessibles-tous)
- Code rural, article L233-1, version in force rechecked on November 9, 2026: [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000030679762](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000030679762)
- Code rural, article R. 205-6, I, and code pénal, article 131-13, in force (read on October 14, 2026): [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000046490456](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000046490456)
- Code rural, article L. 237-2, II, in force since March 25, 2022 (read on October 14, 2026): [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000045405574](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000045405574)
- Ministère de l'Agriculture, "La réglementation sur l'hygiène des aliments", April 16, 2026: [https://agriculture.gouv.fr/la-reglementation-sur-lhygiene-des-aliments](https://agriculture.gouv.fr/la-reglementation-sur-lhygiene-des-aliments)
- Ministère de l'Agriculture, "Restauration : quelles obligations en matière de formation à l'hygiène des aliments ?", page indexed on October 6, 2026: [https://agriculture.gouv.fr/restauration-quelles-obligations-en-matiere-de-formation-a-lhygiene-des-aliments](https://agriculture.gouv.fr/restauration-quelles-obligations-en-matiere-de-formation-a-lhygiene-des-aliments)
- Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr, information page F32189, March 12, 2024 (rechecked on November 9, 2026): [https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F32189](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F32189)
- Service-Public.fr, information page F2474 "Recours gracieux, recours hiérarchique et recours administratif préalable obligatoire", verified on May 11, 2026: [https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2474](https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2474)
- Préfecture de Seine-et-Marne, "Fermetures administratives de restaurants et commerces alimentaires", updated on October 20, 2025: [https://www.seine-et-marne.gouv.fr/Actualites/Salle-de-presse/Fermetures-administratives-de-restaurants-et-commerces-alimentaires](https://www.seine-et-marne.gouv.fr/Actualites/Salle-de-presse/Fermetures-administratives-de-restaurants-et-commerces-alimentaires)
- Cour des comptes, rapport public annuel 2019, tome 2, chapter "Le contrôle de la sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation", February 6, 2019: [https://www.ccomptes.fr/system/files/2019-02/RPA2019-Tome-2-integral.pdf](https://www.ccomptes.fr/system/files/2019-02/RPA2019-Tome-2-integral.pdf)
- Registre Sirene (Insee, France's national statistics office), local register as of September 24, 2026; Scalon Observatory, study on the [number of restaurants in France](/en/observatory/number-of-restaurants-in-france), November 9, 2026.
- Scalon calculations on the three snapshots of the file.

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