A NEW food hygiene website will see the public "voting with their feet", respectively praising and shaming food hygiene standards in restaurants across the district. That is the verdict of David Robertson, East Hampshire District Council's (EHDC) environmental services manager, who spoke about this weeks' launch of the 'safe2eat' scheme. At the time The Herald went to press, 35 premises had been rated 'excellent' in Petersfield, while the vast majority of establishments were given a 'satisfactory' mark. But 10 displayed an 'unsatisfactory' red cross by their name. "Unsatisfactory food establishments will not only be under significant pressure from us as regulators, but they will also be placed under commercial and public pressure to improve," Mr Robertson said. "Seeing the information on the safe2eat website will now enable customers to vote with their feet when considering where to eat out," he added. However, while the website attempts to be as contemporary as possible, Mr Robertson added that there was a disclaimer at the bottom of the website saying that "we can't guarantee the status of each business". He added: "Generally, the inspection has been done recently, certainly within the last year, and probably within the last six months. "But we can't say absolutely that the premises are in the same state as when the inspector went there. They might be better, they might be worse. "It does change all the time," he continued. "If we do an inspection and the premises has improved from a poor standard to a good one, we need to update the information as soon as possible. "If premises change ownership, we will come back and make a further inspection. "It's a good idea to keep up to date and look at the website regularly to see if the list has been updated. "As an example, we had 63 unsatisfactory premises in East Hampshire before the weekend, and now we have 62." Mr Robertson continued to outline what he perceives to be the benefits of the scheme. "So often in our job you go back to same places and you know they are going to be bad. "Court action is the top of the list of actions we can take against an establishment, but more often than not we serve improvement notices. "Safe2eat is is an extra tool to help us drive food standards up," he added. Mr Robertson continued to outline the procedure, adding: "The Food Standards Agency tells us how to conduct investigations, which could take an hour- and-a-half to go through. "They involve a physical check of premises to see if they are cleaned properly, and the way they manage food from point of preparation to the delivery to the customer, and various stages of production. "We also monitor food temperature, and the preparation of raw and uncooked food to make sure the food is cooked properly." Rolled out across the county last year, safe2eat has courted controversy, with many of the "unsatisfactory" businesses contacted by The Herald unaware of their rating – or that the information was in the public domain. Mr Robertson said the website could act as a "publicity tool". "Last week we recognised the achievements of the people who have gone the extra mile, by presenting the businesses rated 'excellent' with a certificate. "These are responsible food operators who haven't just complied with regulations, but gone the extra mile in terms of hygiene standards. "It is important that we reward those businesses and safe2eat, in our view, will help us push up food hygiene standards across the board in the local area. "We've got a huge chunk of businesses in the middle, who are just doing enough, but there is still room for improvement. "If a business is currently unsatisfactory then there is an opportunity to bring themselves up to standard," he said. To view the list, visit http://www.safe2eat.com">www.safe2eat.com.
