Is our food hygiene system institutionally racist?
Reading the article on the front page I was reminded about a conversation I had with a local restaurant owner who I have known for years and eaten regularly at his place. We had been gently teasing him about a 3 star rating he had received for food hygiene which wasn't wise as he had a bit of a sense of humour failure about it. He said he could absolutely guarantee that his kitchen was cleaner than dozens in the area because he oversaw things personally and everyone who worked in the restaurant was a family member or a person well known to them. He cared deeply about standards. In a chain restaurant a manager who would regularly change oversaw staff that were turned over at a high rate and who had no personal stake in the operation.
A chain restaurant will have a member of staff whose job it will be to ensure that they obtain top ratings for all their branches which they almost invariably do. They achieve this not by having scrupulously clean kitchens but knowing exactly how the system works and knowing which boxes to tick.
The owner of the restaurant we talked to said that when the inspectors came to him they gave the maximum score for food hygiene but marked him down for paper work and record keeping. Although he speaks English well it is his second language and he was only taught it at school for a few years. It is therefore far more difficult for him to wade through the mountain of regulations to work out what is required of his restaurant to get the highest rating.
A huge number of people from ethnic minority communities work in the restaurant trade many in businesses they set up themselves. They contribute to the diverse and high quality choice of meal that we have in Wandsworth. However, there seems little argument that the system structurally favours larger chain restaurants who generally provide menus drawn up by committee rather than an individual who loves their food. I don't know the circumstances of what happened at Ali Baba and wouldn't excuse what the chap is alleged to have done but I do know that there is a great deal of unhappiness at the way food businesses are inspected and when restaurant owners describe it as racist they have a point.
Barry Elms ● 2049d3 Comments