Posted: January 26th, 2010 - 3:19pm by Katie Filion

Before heading to the airport yesterday I stopped into a café, and although I miss the toonie Tim Hortons bagel (mine was 8.50 $NZ), I was impressed to see I was dining somewhere that values food safety. There at the counter was a Wellington City Council “Excellent” certificate, and two others from previous years.

It’s good see operators recognizing the marketing potential of a restaurant inspection disclosure program, however, there can be issues with operators displaying expired certificates. In a discussion with an inspector recently, she voiced the issues she had with restaurants keeping their old letter grade cards. Although it can show a great history of food safety inspections, if a restaurant is downgraded keeping the other cards displayed may get confusing.