A Web site that enjoys a good deal of popularity among Rhode Islanders these days doesn’t have video, pictures, games or questionable activities. It is the R.I. Department of Health site with the Office of Food Protection Food Safety Inspection Reports, at www.health.ri.gov. These are the health inspections of more than 8,000 restaurants and other venues that serve food in the state. The inspection reports completed in 2007 went online at the end of October and, at one point earlier this month, the site was getting more than 200 hits per minute, a rate which bloggers and Web geeks dream about.
But don’t expect that the reports are posted in easily digestible form. These reports are bureaucratic in nature.
Despite their popularity with consumers, there are some questions about them from the industry. Dale Venturini of the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association says, “The first thing you see on a restaurant’s inspection report is the word ‘violation.’ The jargon used by the inspectors can be misleading. We need to educate the public, and the inspectors need to be aware of how their writing will be read.”
Her observation is insightful. One restaurant received a violation notice for having an ice scoop stored on top of an ice machine instead of hanging beside it. Indeed, restaurants that pass inspection get a simple, “no violations on this inspection.”
Health Department spokesperson Andrea Bagnall-Degos says the inspectors use standard language in their reports. She says public feedback on the online program is encouraged. “We’ll be listening, and if the public wants [us to] change, we’ll listen to that, too.”
Bagnall-Degos acknowledged the limitations of the inspection program. There are only eight inspectors assigned to handle all food inspections for the department. For the most part, a facility is inspected following a complaint about safe food handling practices. There are “higher-risk” venues, such as establishments with a history of problems, that get visited more often. Also, facilities serving children and the elderly receive more frequent routine inspections. Establishments cited for low-risk violations such as the ice scoop incident do not always receive a follow-up inspection.
Numerous restaurants, including some of the best-known venues in the state, have not been inspected this year and therefore have no records posted on the Web site. The reason? “They may have a good history with not a lot of [health-related] problems,” says Bagnall-Degos.
In my view, while the information on the Health Department’s Web site is useful to consumers, it is not a guarantee of a particular establishment’s cleanliness or quality on any given night. What may be a more reliable certification is a voluntary inspection program called Dine Safer, which the department is undertaking with the private National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). This program is said to go above and beyond health regulations in establishing high standards of food safety and sanitation practices. Rhode Island is the first state to partner with NSF in this leading-edge program.
In my experience in the food service industry, restaurants that are doing the right thing for their customers – serving quality food, giving courteous service and value for the dollar – practice safe food handling and sanitation with or without the inspector at the door. Fortunately for us who dine out in Rhode Island, the thousands of independent restaurateurs serving hundreds of thousands of meals each year without incident are for the most part doing the right thing. •
Dining Out with Bruce Newbury (bruce@brucenewbury.com) can be heard on Talk Radio 920 WHJJ-AM Fridays
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