THE City Health Office (CHO) named Monday, September 3, three restaurants as Cagayan de Oro's best, recognizing their adherence to food and sanitation standards.

Kagay-anon Restaurant, Cucina Higala, and Minindal Cuisine are among the three restaurants that were conferred with awards during the weekly flag raising at the City Hall.

Environmental Sanitation Chief Sergio Ramon Bautista of the CHO said over 1,000 restaurants in Cagayan de Oro were evaluated until it came up with three names.

"Prior to the contest, our sanitary inspectors evaluated these restaurants if they passed our food sanitation standards. They were evaluated several times, and these three restaurants got the rating of more than 90 percent," Bautista said.

He said it is one of the CHO's advocacies to ensure that all restaurants in the city comply with standards, such as cleanliness, safety, city health cards for each employee, and has a food safety officer, among others.

City Administrator Teddy Sabuga-a said this is part of the City Government's continuing efforts to be competitive and make Cagayan de Oro a destination for food tourism.