See and Tell restaurant inspection: Waiter, I see a fly and in soup and I'm telling (and texting)
Croydon Today in the U.K. reports,
The See and Tell service, launched this month, enables people to text the Croydon Council's food safety team with concerns about food safety or labelling issues - in restaurants, shops or takeaways.
There are 2,600 food businesses in Croydon, from takeaways to supermarkets.
Brian Griffiths, manager of the council's food safety team, said,
“There are various levels of action we can take, but in the worst case scenario we can go in and close a place down on the spot. We rely heavily on customers tipping us off and this new text service will make it all the easier. If you find a hair in your soup you can literally text us from the restaurant table and we'll come and investigating.
“Sometimes I've opened bins at the back of restaurants and seen the meat moving because there were so many maggots on it. And at the moment we're dealing with a mice infestation at a high street store which sells food. It is really important we get to hear from residents about these sorts of things so we can go in and take the appropriate action.”
The move to enlist citizen diners seems like another expansion of social networking – the power’s with the people.
The city of Chicago has started encouraging Chicagoans who believe that a restaurant or any other licensed food establishment is operating in an unsafe manner to call 311 and report it.
Back in Feb. 2005, customers with cameras in South Korea were reported photographing any violation of food safety standards and reporting it to authorities.
The sikparazzi -- a combination of the word sik, meaning food, and paparazzi -- are, however, good news for the authorities.
The Korean Food and Drug Administration said 10,567 food safety violations were reported in the first nine months of 2004, and 74.2 million won ($118,624) paid in rewards, reported the Joong Ang Daily.
So lucrative is it to be a sikparazzi in South Korea that at least one private institute runs courses to train people for the job.
There have also been allegations that the sikparazzi sometimes contaminate the food themselves and then demand compensation, threatening to report it.
Mr Griffiths in Croydon also advised people to go to their GP if they think they have got food poisoning and give a poo sample, stating,
“The proof is in the poop and if people give a sample it can be used as evidence, which helps us wrap things up much easier if we get an allegation of food poisoning.”
Follow the poop. Everything comes down to poo.
The See and Tell service, launched this month, enables people to text the Croydon Council's food safety team with concerns about food safety or labelling issues - in restaurants, shops or takeaways.
There are 2,600 food businesses in Croydon, from takeaways to supermarkets.Brian Griffiths, manager of the council's food safety team, said,
“There are various levels of action we can take, but in the worst case scenario we can go in and close a place down on the spot. We rely heavily on customers tipping us off and this new text service will make it all the easier. If you find a hair in your soup you can literally text us from the restaurant table and we'll come and investigating.
“Sometimes I've opened bins at the back of restaurants and seen the meat moving because there were so many maggots on it. And at the moment we're dealing with a mice infestation at a high street store which sells food. It is really important we get to hear from residents about these sorts of things so we can go in and take the appropriate action.”
The move to enlist citizen diners seems like another expansion of social networking – the power’s with the people.The city of Chicago has started encouraging Chicagoans who believe that a restaurant or any other licensed food establishment is operating in an unsafe manner to call 311 and report it.
Back in Feb. 2005, customers with cameras in South Korea were reported photographing any violation of food safety standards and reporting it to authorities.
The sikparazzi -- a combination of the word sik, meaning food, and paparazzi -- are, however, good news for the authorities.
The Korean Food and Drug Administration said 10,567 food safety violations were reported in the first nine months of 2004, and 74.2 million won ($118,624) paid in rewards, reported the Joong Ang Daily.
So lucrative is it to be a sikparazzi in South Korea that at least one private institute runs courses to train people for the job.
There have also been allegations that the sikparazzi sometimes contaminate the food themselves and then demand compensation, threatening to report it.
Mr Griffiths in Croydon also advised people to go to their GP if they think they have got food poisoning and give a poo sample, stating,
“The proof is in the poop and if people give a sample it can be used as evidence, which helps us wrap things up much easier if we get an allegation of food poisoning.”
Follow the poop. Everything comes down to poo.
Chicago's Soul Queen shut
The Chicago Department of Health says that one of the oldest and most famous restaurants in the city was shut down after Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) inspectors discovered a rodent infestation and other critical violations of the city health code.
Soul Queen Restaurant, 9031 S. Stony Island, was shut down after inspectors found numerous mouse feces throughout the kitchen, dining room and storage areas.
The restaurant also was cited for storing food at unsafe temperatures, in a faulty walk-in cooler—resulting in inspectors ordering management to discard six dozen eggs and 30 lbs. of raw chicken.
Soul Queen also was cited for a leaky automatic dishwashing machine, raw sewage coming up through a floor drain near its hand washing sink, grease oozing from the grease trap under the three-compartment sink, no certified food manager on duty, an outside garbage dumpster overflowing with trash, and an outside grease box encrusted with grease.
Today’s inspection was triggered by a customer who called 311 to report seeing three live mice in the restaurant. No live mice were observed today.
Chicagoans who believe that a restaurant or any other licensed food establishment is operating in an unsafe manner are encouraged to call 311 and report it.
Soul Queen Restaurant, 9031 S. Stony Island, was shut down after inspectors found numerous mouse feces throughout the kitchen, dining room and storage areas.The restaurant also was cited for storing food at unsafe temperatures, in a faulty walk-in cooler—resulting in inspectors ordering management to discard six dozen eggs and 30 lbs. of raw chicken.
Soul Queen also was cited for a leaky automatic dishwashing machine, raw sewage coming up through a floor drain near its hand washing sink, grease oozing from the grease trap under the three-compartment sink, no certified food manager on duty, an outside garbage dumpster overflowing with trash, and an outside grease box encrusted with grease.
Today’s inspection was triggered by a customer who called 311 to report seeing three live mice in the restaurant. No live mice were observed today.
Chicagoans who believe that a restaurant or any other licensed food establishment is operating in an unsafe manner are encouraged to call 311 and report it.
Cafe where Boston health inspectors work fails inspection
The Boston Globe reports that inspectors found recently that a restaurant at the home of the Inspectional Services Division at 1010 Massachusetts Ave., as well as a cafe in City Hall that has been visited by the mayor, violated some of the most serious public health codes.
Cafe 1010, located on the first floor of the Mass Ave. building, flunked inspections earlier this month and in December by failing to keep hot foods at 140 degrees or warmer and cold foods at 40 degrees or cooler. Both violations are considered critical because they could cause food poisoning. They had been corrected when inspectors followed up last week.
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Boston food safety consultant Lisa Berger said,
"You would think it would be a deterrent that they're right in the middle of the city offices, but it's clearly not for some places. Everybody knows they get inspected by the health department, yet why do places get in trouble? It's amazing to me how some of them can't quite grasp the seriousness of it sometimes, even with the threat of closure."
City Council member John Tobin suggested using a grading system for restaurants.
"It's kind of like a scarlet letter. If your place is clean and up to code you have nothing to worry about. You've got people going in and eating, and people can get really sick if they're eating in a place infested with rodents or people aren't washing their hands or going by basic procedures to keep food fresh and the condition sanitary."
Cafe 1010, located on the first floor of the Mass Ave. building, flunked inspections earlier this month and in December by failing to keep hot foods at 140 degrees or warmer and cold foods at 40 degrees or cooler. Both violations are considered critical because they could cause food poisoning. They had been corrected when inspectors followed up last week.
Boston food safety consultant Lisa Berger said,"You would think it would be a deterrent that they're right in the middle of the city offices, but it's clearly not for some places. Everybody knows they get inspected by the health department, yet why do places get in trouble? It's amazing to me how some of them can't quite grasp the seriousness of it sometimes, even with the threat of closure."
City Council member John Tobin suggested using a grading system for restaurants.
"It's kind of like a scarlet letter. If your place is clean and up to code you have nothing to worry about. You've got people going in and eating, and people can get really sick if they're eating in a place infested with rodents or people aren't washing their hands or going by basic procedures to keep food fresh and the condition sanitary."
Hygiene horrors in Cardiff, Wales takeout restaurants
Bill Marler's gong to London, and if he gets to Wales, beware the Cardiff takeaway.
The South Wales Echo reports that cockroaches, dirt, poor personal hygiene and congealed fat are just some of the shocking details uncovered in health inspector reports on kebab shops and chippies in Caroline Street.
Hundreds of hungry revellers regularly use the street, widely known as Chip Alley (below), after nights out on the town.
But the most recent kitchen hygiene inspection reports, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show the street’s takeaways broke food safety regulations more than 70 times.
The South Wales Echo reports that cockroaches, dirt, poor personal hygiene and congealed fat are just some of the shocking details uncovered in health inspector reports on kebab shops and chippies in Caroline Street.
Hundreds of hungry revellers regularly use the street, widely known as Chip Alley (below), after nights out on the town.
But the most recent kitchen hygiene inspection reports, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show the street’s takeaways broke food safety regulations more than 70 times.
Mice at Metropolitan Opera restaurant
The New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene says on its website that an April 9 restaurant inspection at the Metropolitan Opera found "evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or nonfood areas."
The nation's largest musical organization also was cited for "food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service."
The department did not issue a notice of violation against the Met because the inspection found 13 violation points — below the average of 15 for New York City restaurants.
The nation's largest musical organization also was cited for "food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service."
The department did not issue a notice of violation against the Met because the inspection found 13 violation points — below the average of 15 for New York City restaurants.
Nova Scotia, Canada, to release restaurant inspection reports
Almost two years after the Halifax Chronicle-Herald started pushing for restaurant inspection disclosure, Nova Scotian Agriculture Minister Brooke Taylor said this week he expects his department will complete a project during the summer to make restaurant inspections results available.
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Taylor hasn't released details on what will be included in the online information, but says it will be similar to what's already done in other provinces.
Taylor says the cost to establish the database is about $500,000.
He says the plan is to post a restaurant's records for up to three years.
In Sept. 2006, I told the Chronicle-Herald,
”Everyone has been rushing for the last 10 years to figure out how they’re going to disclose this information because the overall goal is the public’s right to know. But Nova Scotia’s not even at that point now.”
Taylor hasn't released details on what will be included in the online information, but says it will be similar to what's already done in other provinces.Taylor says the cost to establish the database is about $500,000.
He says the plan is to post a restaurant's records for up to three years.
In Sept. 2006, I told the Chronicle-Herald,
”Everyone has been rushing for the last 10 years to figure out how they’re going to disclose this information because the overall goal is the public’s right to know. But Nova Scotia’s not even at that point now.”
Celebrity chefs rack up health code problems at restaurants
Health Inspections.com reports that on a recent health inspection, Chef Emeril Lagasse's Miami restaurant was hit with 13 critical violations that could make customers sick.
The restaurant was cited for violations such as foods at dangerous temperatures, hygiene violations, and foods not stored properly.
The television program Inside Edition found that restaurants connected with many famous TV chefs have significant health violations.
Inside Edition even video taped mice running freely at BLT Fish in Manhattan, operated by Laurent Tourondel who has appeared on the Iron Chef television program.
I'm not surprised. A 2004 paper we published based on 60 hours of detailed viewing of television cooking shows found that an unsafe food handling practice occurred about every four minutes, and that for every safe food handling practice observed, we observed 13 unsafe practices. The most common errors were inadequate hand washing and cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods.
Among the violators:
Anthony Bourdain: The restaurant Les Halles in Coral Gables, Florida was shut down by inspectors 3 times since 2006 for dangerous violations. In the last inspection, the inspector noted 30 fresh rodent droppings on a baking rack. Bourdain is the 'chef-at-large' for the restaurant.
Mario Batali: His "Spotted Pig" restaurant in New York was found to have mice and insects. On two prior inspections, there were a high number of critical violations that required inspectors to come back for follow-ups.
Wolfgang Puck: At his Spago Café in Vegas, nasty employee lockers were found to have roaches. There were also violations for a dirty food slicer, foods at the wrong temperature, and employees not washing properly because of a lack of soap.
Celebrity Chef Todd English has the worst record of the TV cooks. His three Boston restaurants have consistently failed inspections. One of them, known as Kingfish Hall, has failed five inspections since January of 2007.
Paula Dean's restaurant "Lady and Son" in Georgia had consistently high scores on health inspections.
The Inside Edition story on celebrity chefs who don't quite make the grade is available at:
http://healthinspections.com/video.cfm?bWVkaWFJRD0zOA==
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The restaurant was cited for violations such as foods at dangerous temperatures, hygiene violations, and foods not stored properly.The television program Inside Edition found that restaurants connected with many famous TV chefs have significant health violations.
Inside Edition even video taped mice running freely at BLT Fish in Manhattan, operated by Laurent Tourondel who has appeared on the Iron Chef television program.
I'm not surprised. A 2004 paper we published based on 60 hours of detailed viewing of television cooking shows found that an unsafe food handling practice occurred about every four minutes, and that for every safe food handling practice observed, we observed 13 unsafe practices. The most common errors were inadequate hand washing and cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods.
Among the violators:
Anthony Bourdain: The restaurant Les Halles in Coral Gables, Florida was shut down by inspectors 3 times since 2006 for dangerous violations. In the last inspection, the inspector noted 30 fresh rodent droppings on a baking rack. Bourdain is the 'chef-at-large' for the restaurant.
Mario Batali: His "Spotted Pig" restaurant in New York was found to have mice and insects. On two prior inspections, there were a high number of critical violations that required inspectors to come back for follow-ups.
Wolfgang Puck: At his Spago Café in Vegas, nasty employee lockers were found to have roaches. There were also violations for a dirty food slicer, foods at the wrong temperature, and employees not washing properly because of a lack of soap.
Celebrity Chef Todd English has the worst record of the TV cooks. His three Boston restaurants have consistently failed inspections. One of them, known as Kingfish Hall, has failed five inspections since January of 2007.
Paula Dean's restaurant "Lady and Son" in Georgia had consistently high scores on health inspections.
The Inside Edition story on celebrity chefs who don't quite make the grade is available at:
http://healthinspections.com/video.cfm?bWVkaWFJRD0zOA==
Fancy food isn't safer food: San Diego edition
The San Diego Union Tribune has a couple of stories today on restaurant inspection, one with the headline, Not-so-fine dining cited at many top restaurants.
When it comes to dining out, an analysis by The San Diego Union-Tribune found that pricier doesn't always translate into safer.
County inspection records for 103 of San Diego's most popular, top-rated and most expensive restaurants show that 50 percent have been written up for at least one major food-safety violation in the past two years.
Unfortunately, the story doesn't analyze how that rate compares with other restaurants in San Diego.
The story does note it's hard to pinpoint exactly how much of a risk health code violations pose to diners.
When inspectors found water that wasn't hot enough in restrooms, as was the case twice in the past two years at Island Prime on Harbor Island, they couldn't say whether food handlers spread bacteria as a result of it.
Except that water temperature is not a factor in hand cleanliness. Flowing water, soap and paper towel are important for effective handwashing.
At The Lodge at Torrey Pines, which has maintained scores of 92 or higher in the past two years, chefs conduct hour-long safety inspections each week using the county's measurements.
“I truly believe it comes down to pride and culture and good behavior that's reinforced by good management,” said Bill Gross, the lodge's food and beverage director. “It starts at the top.”
That I can agree with. Creating and nurturing a culture that values microbiologically safe food, when purchasing and preparing, serving and storing, will help reduce the number of people who get sick from food. Even fancy food.
When it comes to dining out, an analysis by The San Diego Union-Tribune found that pricier doesn't always translate into safer.
County inspection records for 103 of San Diego's most popular, top-rated and most expensive restaurants show that 50 percent have been written up for at least one major food-safety violation in the past two years.Unfortunately, the story doesn't analyze how that rate compares with other restaurants in San Diego.
The story does note it's hard to pinpoint exactly how much of a risk health code violations pose to diners.
When inspectors found water that wasn't hot enough in restrooms, as was the case twice in the past two years at Island Prime on Harbor Island, they couldn't say whether food handlers spread bacteria as a result of it.
Except that water temperature is not a factor in hand cleanliness. Flowing water, soap and paper towel are important for effective handwashing.
At The Lodge at Torrey Pines, which has maintained scores of 92 or higher in the past two years, chefs conduct hour-long safety inspections each week using the county's measurements.
“I truly believe it comes down to pride and culture and good behavior that's reinforced by good management,” said Bill Gross, the lodge's food and beverage director. “It starts at the top.”
That I can agree with. Creating and nurturing a culture that values microbiologically safe food, when purchasing and preparing, serving and storing, will help reduce the number of people who get sick from food. Even fancy food.
1/4 of NYC restaurants failing health inspections
The Nation's Restaurant News reported Friday that New York City public health inspectors are failing approximately one-quarter of the restaurants they examine.
In the report released Thursday, the health department was cited as saying that approximately 25% of the nearly 30,000 restaurants visited by health inspectors in FY '07 flunked their initial inspections. The failure rate hovered around 20% in FY '06.
In 48% of the failed inspections, the city’s health inspectors cited “signs of active rats.”
The statistics were released as part of the Mayor’s Management Report, which reviews the performance of city agencies on a semi-annual basis.
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In the report released Thursday, the health department was cited as saying that approximately 25% of the nearly 30,000 restaurants visited by health inspectors in FY '07 flunked their initial inspections. The failure rate hovered around 20% in FY '06.
In 48% of the failed inspections, the city’s health inspectors cited “signs of active rats.”
The statistics were released as part of the Mayor’s Management Report, which reviews the performance of city agencies on a semi-annual basis.
