Keep Calm and Eat On: The Health Department Was Here

It’s hard to prove a negative – to prove something didn’t happen. Much of public health involves keeping bad things from happening. Prevent problems. Protect health.

Health Environmentalists do just that. You ate at that restaurant and you didn’t get sick. That is, at least in part, because of the partnership between the restaurant and the Health Environmentalists. In Whitley County, we now have three of them. They work on a lot of programs in our community, but right now, let’s focus on health inspections of places you eat.

Food establishments are required to have a permit. The permit is an agreement to operate safely, follow regulations and to allow regular inspections. The goal of inspection is for customers to stay safe. A side benefit is to help establishments provide a good customer experience, draw more customers, and contribute to the local economy.

Not all places that have food need a permit. Free food at events rarely requires a permit. Potlucks are an example. A favorite event where we all partake in something called “assumed risk”. Aunt Bettie brings her mystery cheese loaf. You decide how daring you’re feeling that day.

Food for sale usually comes with rules. Baked goods, like those cupcakes or candies on Facebook, fall under agricultural rules for home-baked goods. Someone selling home-baked goods only needs a permit and inspection from the Health Department if they also sell more risk items like chicken salad, charcuterie, or cut fruit.

For places that sell cold food like grocery stores, we generally inspect them once a year. If they serve hot food, inspections happen at least every six months. Inspections take an average of 90 minutes to complete, but it depends on the size of the place.

There are 58 categories of things to check during inspection, including what the training and supervision of staff is. Other inspection areas include: Do they wash their hands? Is food stored at correct temperatures with required labels? Is the food safe foods to eat? Are there opportunities for contamination? Is food cooked to proper temperatures? Are facilities and equipment clean and working properly? Are there insects, rodents or animals?

At the end of every inspection, the food establishment gets a score, with one hundred being the highest. It isn’t like school where anything above 90 is an “A.” You want as close to one hundred as possible. A score of 90 is a place most Health Environmentalists wouldn’t want to eat.

Problems during inspection may cause a follow-up inspection. Certain inspection items are a high priority. The Health Environmentalist may need to come back to re-inspect within a few days or weeks if there are high priority items or if the total score is below 85. Reinspection is to ensure problems are corrected.

The most common problems are that staff do not have the required food training. Improper temperatures is another common problem, as is not having clean surfaces like shelves, counters and tops of equipment or leaving cleaning rags out.

You can find out inspection scores in several places. The News Journal publishes them regularly. The Yelp app lists them too. Most importantly, food establishments are required to post them.

You should be able to see a copy of their permit and their most recent inspection report posted visibly on a wall. If you don’t see it, you can ask them to show it to you. Look at the score and the reasons the score is less than one hundred. Then decide if you want to stay.

Health Environmentalists work with the establishment to prevent or correct problems. We want businesses to be successful.

It is never a goal to drive scores down. Health Environmentalists want to prevent foodborne illness and worker injuries. That’s good business for everyone.