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ST. PAUL, Minn.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) has received a Kitchen Innovationsa" 2012 Award from the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, for its ActiveView HDI (Health Department Intelligence) service. Introduced last fall, ActiveView HDI helps chain restaurant operators safeguard their customersa health a" and protect their own reputations from potentially harmful food safety and sanitation issues.

"A negative health department rating, or worse, an outbreak of food-borne illness, at one unit can have a negative effect on the reputation of an entire chain"

Geared to the needs of multi-unit operators in the United States, Ecolabas ActiveView HDI service provides a clear line of sight into health department inspections at the unit level, regardless of location, and across an operatoras entire restaurant chain.

aA negative health department rating, or worse, an outbreak of food-borne illness, at one unit can have a negative effect on the reputation of an entire chain,a said Ruth Petran, Ph.D., corporate scientist for food safety at Ecolab. aOperators can help protect the health a" and maintain the confidence -- of their customers by tracking health department inspections a" and taking immediate action to correct any problems. Using Active HDI, they can, for the first time, monitor the health department inspections for all of their units nationwide and act quickly to avoid potential problems.a

ActiveView HDI also makes it easy for chain operators to track and decipher local health department inspections by assigning a standardized, numerical rating system to the many diverse sanitation rating systems used by states and localities. It also provides trend analysis and reporting to help operators determine units that may be in need of special attention.

The service includes access to a Web portal through which customers can access health inspection data for their chain anytime or anywhere they have an Internet connection.

To learn more about Ecolabas ActiveView HDI service, visit booth #2440B at the Kitchen Innovations Pavilion or the Ecolab booth (#4000) at the NRA Show, May 5-8, in Chicago.

About Ecolab

With 2011 pro forma sales of $11 billion and more than 40,000 employees, Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that provide and protect clean water, safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments. Ecolab delivers comprehensive programs and services tothe food, energy, healthcare, industrial and hospitality markets in more than 160 countries. For more Ecolab news and information, visit [ www.ecolab.com ].

(ECL-P)