The Bathurst restaurant has had the dubious honour of appearing on the NSW Food Authority's "name and shame" register after being handed three health and safety compliance breaches earlier this year.

The breaches related to failing to ensure food preparation equipment had been cleaned to the required standard, failing to maintain adequate levels of cleanliness at the premises and failing to ensure the person carrying out the food handling supervision had appropriate knowledge.

The three fines totalled $2640 but the damage to the restaurant's reputation could be much more costly.

For its part, Anam's head company Elnart Pty Ltd says it has been working hard to ensure the Bathurst restaurant complies with the appropriate food standards and has gone as far as introducing its own internal inspections to keep everyone on their toes.

There is some ground to make up with their customers but we wish them well and hope they can make the changes needed to avoid going through this experience again.

The good news for Bathurst diners, though, is that such breaches are rare.

Bathurst Regional Council conducted more than 300 food premises inspections in the 2018-19 financial year - plus many more at temporary food outlets operating at the Bathurst Winter Festival and motor events on Mount Panorama - but issued just the three breaches to Anam.

That's a hit rate of less than one per cent and paints a very healthy picture of the state of food hygiene in our city. But most consumers would never know that.

The reality is, the NSW Food Authority's name and shame register only becomes an issue for the eateries listed on it if a snoopy journalist takes the time to do a search.

Otherwise, it is easy for breached businesses to simply lay low and hope no-one ever finds out.

If the government was serious about shaming eateries that do the wrong thing, it would routinely send out advisories listing its latest targets.

It would also require breached businesses to publicly display the breach notice to inform new and returning customers.

That would also serve as a constant reminder to staff that when it comes to food-handling standards, they have to get it right every time.