Dirty crockery puts off UK diners

Most people want clean cutlery in restaurants

Only 7% of people who eat out in the UK are worried about the state of restaurant floors.

A European survey on attitudes to dining out found that when it came to dirt, top of the list of concerns was grimy crockery and cutlery.

The findings also highlighted that unkempt staff and bad smells were off-putting for customers.

British and Spanish diners were most concerned about cleanliness, while Italians check a waiter's nails.

More than 5,000 people in Italy, Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands were questioned in the survey, carried out by the firm Kimberly-Clark.

Nearly half of those questioned agreed restaurants do not pay enough attention to hygiene, but they did believe many had improved in recent years.

Dirty fingernails

The research revealed that Europeans not only differed in the foods they ate but also the way they dined.

Nearly half of the Italians questioned were put off eating in a restaurant because of waiters and waitresses with dirty fingernails.

Clarissa Dickson Wright says some owners do not care about the rules

But those in the Netherlands preferred to check restaurant floors before they stepped inside for a meal.

To make them feel more at ease six out of 10 diners would prefer to be able to see how clean a restaurant's kitchens were, by eating in an open plan area.

And 84% would not return to an eatery if they thought it was unhygienic, even if the quality and price of the food was good.

UK celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright said the findings did not mean there should be new legislation to enforce cleanliness.

"Where everything breaks down is where people ignore the rules. There is a level of fast food where you have to watch over some people," she said.

"By and large a restaurant that serves really good food probably has very good hygiene."

'Wake-up call'

Stephen Leigh, spokesman for Kimberly-Clark, said the findings showed good standards of hygiene were fundamental.

"Basics such as cleaning surfaces and washing and drying hands properly can make a major difference in terms of hygiene. In the UK, for example, over half of catering staff do not wash their hands before preparing food," he said.

Graham Jukes, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, said he hoped the survey would serve as a wake-up call to the UK restaurant industry.

"The message is clear: if you want people to come back to your restaurant a second time, you need to ensure that staff are properly trained and the right food safety and hygiene procedures are in place," he said.