Xiangcaiwang, a restaurant featuring spicy dishes from Central China's Hunan Province, has an A rating.

A server poses in front of Xiangcaiwang, a A-rated eatery featuring spicy dishes from Central China's Hunan Province. The restaurant is located at the A-class dining street, 500 meters north of the Olympic Green. [Yang Jie/chinadaily.com.cn]

"When the rating system started in 2004, we actually got a B," said Fu Jianhua, head chef with Xiangcaiwang. "Then we made improvements and got promoted to an A last October.

"We buy ingredients only from qualified suppliers who must have three certificates, the quarantine certificate, the hygiene certificate and the operation certificate," said Fu, "We keep records of all our suppliers in case an accident happens so we will have a source to trace back.

He added once the ingredients are transferred to the kitchen, the chefs will double check the ingredients to make sure they haven't gone bad or aren't polluted by chemicals.

Another way Xiangcaiwang ensures high-quality hygiene standards is through staff health checks.

"Potential employees must present a qualified medical certificate to show they are healthy before they can work here. We also get all our chefs to do annual health checks," said Fu.

"Also, each morning the head chef checks the clothes, hair and even fingernails of all staff working in the restaurant. If anyone feels sick or cuts his finger, we will ask him to go home right away to rest," said Fu.

What is also interesting about the online rating database is that some fast-food eateries are rated the same or higher than high-end restaurants.

"We rate restaurants only according to their hygiene conditions," said Wang. "Some KFC outlets do a fantastic job. Their kitchens strictly follow the rules, so we give them an A."

Alameda, a popular Brazilian restaurant in Sanlitun is rated C.

"Actually I don't know anything about the rating system," said Ms Fei, the service manager of Alameda.

"But I think diners are more likely to believe in what they see. We have open kitchens here. Diners can see with their own eyes the material we use and how we process the food. I think they are more assured of the security of the food when they see this."

About the rating system

Drawing on the experiences of Japan and Singapore, the Ministry of Health began a nationwide campaign to rate restaurants in 2004.

Due to the thousands of people visiting Beijing for the Olympics there has been more scrutiny of Beijing's numerous restaurants. "Thanks to the Games, Beijing has so far done the most thorough ratings in the country," said Li.

Monthly released figures show Beijing rated 35,854 restaurants in July, covering restaurants located in Beijng's 19 districts. In total Beijing has about 59,000 catering venues.