Diners can check the hygiene standards of local restaurants in China

What class do you dine? People eating in Beijing's many restaurants will now know right away due to an online food hygiene rating system.

As part of the city's campaign for cleaner restaurants, the Beijing Health Bureau has developed the online database so diners can check the hygiene standards of local restaurants that are graded from A (excellent) to D (not qualified).

The rating system has been in effect for four years across China, but because of the Olympics more attention has been paid to the hygiene standards of Beijing eateries.

 
The online database reveals that among 47 rated KFC outlets in Chaoyang District, where most Olympic venues are located, two outlets are rated A, one rated C and the rest are Bs.

As an international brand, KFC is known for the standard of service it provides to its customers. So why do some outlets have different hygiene ratings from the Municipal Health Bureau?
It turns out this disparity among the stores is not exclusive to the chicken-maker, but also at burger giant McDonald's whose outlets in the city have A, B and C ratings, though all the 23 rated McDonald's outlets in Chaoyang District have a B rating.

The range of ratings also affect Zhen Kungfu, a Chinese fast-food chain aiming to compete with McDonald's with its "green and nutritional" simmered and stewed food, as well as UBC Coffee, a Taiwanese cafe chain, which operates more than 80 outlets in Beijing.

"We all know that KFC does well in providing standard services, but KFC outlets have different locations, different sizes and the layout of their kitchens naturally vary," said Wang Benjin, deputy director of the Beijing Hygiene Supervision Institute (BHSI) explaining why KFC stores are rated differently.

Ms Li Hong, an associated senior doctor with BHSI says because of high employee turnover and employees having different habits, these can be factors explaining why KFC has a variety of ratings.

"It may just happen that a store mixes raw food with cooked food when the inspectors come to the restaurant. All these factors will affect the ratings the outlets get," explained Li. The rating a restaurant gets is actually "floating" and it can change based upon the results of nonscheduled inspections.
Xiangcaiwang, a restaurant featuring spicy dishes from Central China's Hunan Province, has an A rating.

 
"When the rating system started in 2004, we actually got a B," said Fu Jianhua, head chef with Xiangcaiwang. "Then we made improvements and got promoted to an A last October.
"We buy ingredients only from qualified suppliers who must have three certificates, the quarantine certificate, the hygiene certificate and the operation certificate," said Fu, "We keep records of all our suppliers in case an accident happens so we will have a source to trace back.

He added once the ingredients are transferred to the kitchen, the chefs will double check the ingredients to make sure they haven't gone bad or aren't polluted by chemicals.

Another way Xiangcaiwang ensures high-quality hygiene standards is through staff health checks.

"Potential employees must present a qualified medical certificate to show they are healthy before they can work here. We also get all our chefs to do annual health checks," said Fu.

"Also, each morning the head chef checks the clothes, hair and even fingernails of all staff working in the restaurant. If anyone feels sick or cuts his finger, we will ask him to go home right away to rest," said Fu.

What is also interesting about the online rating database is that some fast-food eateries are rated the same or higher than high-end restaurants.

"We rate restaurants only according to their hygiene conditions," said Wang. "Some KFC outlets do a fantastic job. Their kitchens strictly follow the rules, so we give them an A."

Alameda, a popular Brazilian restaurant in Sanlitun is rated C.

"Actually I don't know anything about the rating system," said Ms Fei, the service manager of Alameda.

"But I think diners are more likely to believe in what they see. We have open kitchens here. Diners can see with their own eyes the material we use and how we process the food. I think they are more assured of the security of the food when they see this."

About the rating system

Drawing on the experiences of Japan and Singapore, the Ministry of Health began a nationwide campaign to rate restaurants in 2004.

Due to the thousands of people visiting Beijing for the Olympics there has been more scrutiny of Beijing's numerous restaurants. "Thanks to the Games, Beijing has so far done the most thorough ratings in the country," said Li.

Monthly released figures show Beijing rated 35,854 restaurants in July, covering restaurants located in Beijng's 19 districts. In total Beijing has about 59,000 catering venues.

This rating system applies to restaurants, dining halls and caterers to big events, excluding restaurants whose sizes are smaller than 50 square meters, "folk-custom" restaurants in tourist spots, or cafes and teahouses that provide only drinks and snacks like fried chicken wings or kebabs.

Inspectors rate restaurants according to 67 specific criteria, including the health conditions of the waiters and chefs, the kitchen facilities and the qualifications of the food suppliers.

The highest rating of A is only given to restaurants scoring over 85 points on a scale of 100. In July, 2,544 restaurants inspected were rated A, 7.1 percent of the total inspected restaurants in Beijing.

An A rating is imperative for all 20 companies providing catering services for the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as the 112 hotels which signed reception contracts with the Beijing Olympic organizers (BOCOG) and 44 dining halls of 22 hospitals specially set aside for the Games.

An A class dining street has been set up 500 meters to the north of the Olympic Green. All 11 restaurants on this street are A rated and their menus cover many different foods such as Cantonese, Sichuanese plus Japanese and various Western dishes.

A B rating is given to restaurants scoring between 75 and 85 points and C to those scoring between 60 and 75. B and C restaurants together cover more than 90 percent of the total number of restaurants inspected.

Restaurants scoring below 60 will get a D. Once a restaurant gets a D rating, it must improve or it will be shut down. July figures show that nine restaurants in Beijing are of a D class.