JEDDAH: Jeddah Municipality, with cooperation of the Check Safety First British company, launched an award of excellence for services in restaurants under the name E-Cristal to support the establishment of best services in restaurants and eatery shops, and provide health safety and security to the public.

On Monday, Jeddah Municipality announced that they will divide the restaurants and eatery shops into different categories according to their services and quality of food. The excellence award will be given to the best restaurant in town for providing quality food and services.

Engineer Nasir Al-Matab, assistant secretary of the sub-municipalities, said they launched this contest among restaurants in Jeddah to upgrade the quality of food and services, which will be checked by an independent authority to ensure standards are maintained and continually improved for the benefit of residents and visitors.

He said it will also contribute to preserve standards, customer satisfaction and reduce waste. The program works to promote the catering sector in light of the high market competition, and promote the best restaurants, not only in the local but also the international markets.

Al-Matab explained that for the purpose of observation they invited 17 specialist food safety companies, from which eight companies will check the required qualifications, and three companies will monitor for the safety and security of food with the cooperation of Check Safety First. A technical committee will prepare the nominees for the excellence award.

Consultants will visit and evaluate restaurants and food establishments in the city, categorize them according to their services on six levels, give a report to the facility on the assessment, and if required a reassessment will be done.

The assessment will include regulatory requirements; health and safety of employees; hygiene requirements, dealing with food; storerooms; food preparation areas; cleaning and hygiene of the workers and the facility; drinking water; washrooms; safety systems for special-needs services; transportation of food; dining areas; emergency programs; and equipment.