By SYLVIA RECTOR • April 12, 2009

DETROIT — An online survey of 2,175 adults conducted by Harris Interactive found that 88 percent of people who visit restaurants believe that restroom cleanliness reflects the restaurant's overall hygiene, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Health Department officials said they could not comment on the survey because they have never studied the subject and would not want to speculate, the story stated.

The survey found that 29 percent of respondents said they would not return to a restaurant with very dirty facilities, while half said they would tell a friend if they had a bad experience with a dirty restroom, the story noted. 

Sherry LaBelle, Macomb County's associate director for environmental health services, said: "The first person customers should tell about cleanliness concerns is the restaurant's owner or manager, whether the issue is restroom conditions, food-handling practices or employee hand-washing." 

Customers who want to report restaurant sanitation concerns of any kind to an official should call their county's Health Department, the story added.