Europeans Want Better Restaurant Hygiene

Wednesday 24 March 2004

Hygiene issues are one of the key drivers of restaurant choice across Western Europe, according to new research from MORI. The project, conducted for Kimberly-Clark, looks at attitudes to restaurant hygiene in six European countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands).

More than four-fifths (85%) of Europeans agree they would not return to a restaurant they considered to be unhygienic, even if the quality and price of the food was good

Four in 10 Europeans (39%) agree restaurants do not pay enough attention to the levels of hygiene and cleanliness in their establishment (particularly in Britain and Spain where those agreeing rises to 44% and 48% respectively).

A majority think things are getting better, with four times more adults agreeing (53%) than disagreeing (13%) that, over the past few years, the levels of hygiene and cleanliness in restaurants have improved. Those in France are found to be the most likely and those in the Netherlands the least likely to have noticed an improvement.

There also appears to be a great deal of enthusiasm for open-kitchens. Given the choice, six in 10 agree they would prefer to see their meal prepared in an open-kitchen area so they can see how clean the facilities are

The survey also investigates what hygiene related issues put people off eating in a particular restaurant. Across Europe, dirty crockery and cutlery (35%) emerge as the biggest offender followed closely by waiters and waitresses having dirty clothing and finger nails (34%). Whilst dirty crockery and cutlery are the most likely put-off in the Netherlands, France, GB and Germany, a dirty waiter/waitress is the most off-putting aspect for those questioned in Italy and Spain. Other offenders included dirty kitchens (28%), bad smells/odours (24%), and dirty toilets (23%).

Technical details

MORI carried out 5,469 interviews with adults across the GB (1,035), Italy (983), Germany (976), France (970), Netherlands (503) and Spain (1,002). Interviewing took place between 17th July to 17th September 2003. Interviews were carried out face-to-face in all countries with the exception of the Netherlands where interviewing was carried out over the telephone. Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile within each country. The combined figures have been weighted to reflect country size.

I am about to read out a number of statements. Thinking about restaurants in this country, for each statement, please could you tell me whether you agree strongly, tend to agree, neither agree nor disagree, tend to disagree or disagree strongly.

Q "I would not return to a restaurant that I considered to be unhygienic, even if the quality and price of food was good"

Q "Restaurants do not pay enough attention to the levels of hygiene and cleanliness in their establishment"

Q "Over the past few years the level of hygiene and cleanliness in restaurants has improved."

Q "Given the choice, I like (or prefer) restaurants with an open-kitchen area so I can see how clean the facilities are."

Q Which, if any, of the following hygiene related issues would be most likely to put you off eating in a particular restaurant?