Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Do you obsessively read the grading ratings on eateries like I do, or are you normal?You know how the kitchens and backrooms of restaurants and cafes get inspected and graded based on hygiene and cleanliness? More ratings came out this week and I’m obsessed with them.Because I’m a hygiene freak and if I see anything other than an A rating I want to run for the hills. How the system works is that a D or E rating basically means the situation is pretty revolting. Uncovered uncooked food left out, cockroaches, filth or flies look, it’s gross. This has all come about due to Food Safety checks, for which we should be eternally grateful. So MPI wanders round with inspectors, checks out the state of eateries and slaps a grading on them.Auckland Council took it further and adopted the measure that these gradings have to be displayed publicly; we have to know what we’re dealing with. And that’s why I have now become obsessed with looking for that little food safety certificate every time I walk into a takeaway outlet.