Valentines Day: don’t give the gift of food poisoning

You should expect a restaurant to serve risk-free food as a right, not have to check their hygiene rating. Local Authorities should close down – temporarily initially – establishments that fell below a required standard – that is if the LA do inspect routinely. I suspect most do not and the hygiene rating is only worth it on the day they were visited. Only when poor standards are punished properly – both financially and by suspending business – may we see negligent owners feel that ignoring food hygiene is not a business risk worth taking.

Whilst an initial inspection may be publicly funded it might be more approriate to issue an annual license, paid for by the restaurant owners. Further visits to check remedial actions after an inspection failure should be paid for by the restaurant . We might then be able to support a properly resourced system.

You would’ve thought so, right Malcolm? – there’s nothing romantic about food poisoning.

I check for ratings on the FSA website before eating out and urge others to do the same. It would be a great help to have a proper app for mobile devices rather than just a link to a page on the FSA website.

It is mandatory to display food hygiene ratings in Wales but high time that this was universal. I know that Which? and others are pushing for this.

I am not keen on the pass/fail system used in Scotland because giving a rating of 0 to 5 provides encouragement for establishments to do their best rather than achieve a pass.

The inspection of premises is handled by councils rather than the FSA, and I suspect that some are more conscientious than others. I suspect that Norwich is the only council that puts information about each of its inspection on its website. This helps the anyone who is interested to understand the nature of inspections and why premises are being marked down. I have no idea of the costs involved in making this information available.

I would rather see a Food Hygiene Rating of 5 than a Michelin star.

We chose an establishment with no scores on the doors, but were able to inspect the loos and kitchen. Had a delicious dinner – scallops on minted pea , perfectly cooked rump steak in pepper sauce, a decent bottle of Rioja, strawberries and chocolate sauce, coffee and chocolates. Cards and presents brought to the table. And all for £20. Alive and well today.