Are There "Ratatouille" Restaurants? On Anticorrelation of Food Quality and Hygiene

29 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2020 Last revised: 30 Oct 2024

See all articles by Hisayuki Yoshimoto

Hisayuki Yoshimoto

University of Glasgow - Adam Smith Business School

Andy Zapechelnyuk

University of Edinburgh - School of Economics

Date Written: November 10, 2023

Abstract

We study the empirical relationship between restaurants' hygiene standards and their food quality scores, as evaluated by professional reviewers. By using data from the UK high-end restaurants, we show that this relationship is negative, observed across several econometric specifications and food quality measurements. We report that 3% of Michelin-starred restaurants have poor hygiene, while the same is true for 2.5% of high-end guidebook-listed restaurants in our dataset. We highlight two possibilities for this observed negative association: a strategic hypothesis (capturing restaurants' choices trading off hygiene for quality), and a selection hypothesis (reflecting restaurants' differential survival rates under competition). Our results indicate that the latter has more support. Our findings also illuminate potential channels through which the anticorrelation between hygiene and food quality could be mitigated and can be informative for hygiene inspectors in order to prioritize restaurants in their inspection schedule based on observable characteristics.

Keywords: Food quality, restaurants, consumer reviews, hygiene standards, certification

JEL Classification: L15, D22, I18

Suggested Citation

Yoshimoto, Hisayuki and Zapechelnyuk, Andriy, Are There "Ratatouille" Restaurants? On Anticorrelation of Food Quality and Hygiene (November 10, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3508023 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3508023

Hisayuki Yoshimoto

University of Glasgow - Adam Smith Business School ( email )

Glasgow
United Kingdom

Andriy Zapechelnyuk (Contact Author)

University of Edinburgh - School of Economics ( email )

31 Buccleuch Place
Edinburgh, EH8 9JT
United Kingdom

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