Only 39 per cent of routine restaurant inspections were completed last year in the Calgary area, Alberta's auditor general found in his annual report.

In 2008, 6,984 of 18,027 of regular inspections were finished, giving the Calgary area the lowest completion rate in the province.

"I have a high regard for our colleagues and fellow citizens in Calgary. They are entrepreneurial, they're adventurous, they are very, very forward thinking, but dining out should not be a risk-taking venture," said Auditor General Fred Dunn on Friday.

In Edmonton, the inspection-completion rate was virtually 100 per cent with 11,280 completed inspections.

Dunn criticized Alberta Health Services for only a marginal improvement in completion rates over the last three years at 64 per cent overall in the province.

Dr. Brent Friesen, the medical officer in charge of environmental public health, said the number of restaurant inspections and inspectors in Calgary is slowly rising.

"Are we proud of what we've done? No we're not proud. We've made an improvement in terms overall in the province with the percentage of inspections but we can do better and we have a plan that is going to see us doing better," he said.

Friesen said 18 health inspectors are now assigned to food safety in the Calgary area.

He assured the public it's safe to eat out at any of the city's 8,100 restaurants.