Results show that the upgrading of

Results show that the upgrading of obtained scores in all three
cities is more than preferable. This can be obtained through improvements
of practices during food preparation, storage, cleaning
practices, but also by education and training of food handlers
directly involved in preparation, processing and service of meals in
restaurants are crucial in the prevention of most types of foodborne
illness (Gibson, Rose, Haas, Gerba, & Rusin, 2002). Also there is a
need for more regular inspection of food establishments by the
local authorities in order to check the compliance with the food
hygiene and food safety requirements at every stage of food preparation
to prevent possible food contamination. Evidence from
countries which used rating system such as USA, parts of Canada,
Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore suggests that food hygiene
schemes lead to improved standards of food safety, and better sales
as well as being welcomed by customers (Boehnke & Graham,
2000; Moriss, 2005; Thompson, de Burger, & Kadri, 2005). Managers’
opinion confirms their belief that a transparent FHR could
lead to improved business. Several reports also indicated that the
introduction of restaurant hygiene grade resulted in significant
decrease of foodborne diseases hospitalization (Jin & Leslie, 2003;
Simon et al., 2005). Additionally, the scoring system allowed the
consumer to choose food establishments with better hygiene score.
The consumer recognizes the importance of these scores and
awareness regarding hygiene.