Restaurant hygiene to go online

Diners will have instant access to reports by hygiene inspectors

Diners in Aberdeen will soon be able to check the cleanliness of their chosen restaurant before deciding to book a table, it has emerged.

The city council is to make inspection reports on food premises available to the public for the first time online.

It follows the success of a similar scheme in New York where people could access information on restaurants via the internet.

Officials in Aberdeen hope it will help drive up standards in city restaurants.

Carol Jackson, senior environmental health officer with Aberdeen City Council, said: "An advantage of this is that it helps us comply with the Freedom of Information Act in making information available to the public and being open and accountable.

"But it also may have the by-product, as in other countries, of driving up standards within food restaurants and other businesses."

Instant access

David Clapham, an environmental health officer and food hygiene journalist, studied the New York experiment.

He said: "When we go out and inspect a restaurant, sometimes it's perfect and sometimes it's not.

"What they found in New York was the number of restaurants which were perfect on an inspection officer's first visit doubled."

Diners in Aberdeen have welcomed the move.

One said: "I think instant access to these reports will be very useful. When you are visiting places, you don't always know what goes on behind the scenes.

"At least this way you know for sure what the standards of hygiene are in a restaurant before you have to leave the house."