CANADA: Online restaurant health ratings positive: gov't

13.aug.11
Times Transcript

An official with the New Brunswick Department of Health says restaurants in the province have become more vigilant in meeting and maintaining food safety targets since the province started posting restaurant inspection results online a few years ago.

"We're quite pleased with it," says Scott MacLean, executive director of the health protection branch. "It's increased compliance and how quickly operators comply with correcting violations. Other provinces have followed suit with what we've done."

The Department of Health started posting restaurant inspection results online in 2007 so consumers could see how restaurants fare in terms of food safety and cleanliness.

Restaurants are given a colour rating after review. Green means the restaurant has a high standard of compliance with no more than five minor violations. Yellow means the restaurants have a higher number of minor violations. Light red could mean one or more critical violations or several major or minor violations that need to be fixed immediately. A dark red rating would lead to a restaurant having its food licence revoked due to non-compliance.

MacLean says critical violations would include things that can directly affect food safety, such as problems with food temperature, cross-contamination, no hot- or cold-running water or food not being thawed properly.

Minor violations tend to be more structure-related and can include cracked floor tiles, a dirty floor or wall that needs painting.

In addition to the colour rating, the entire, detailed inspection reports can be downloaded so consumers can see exactly why a restaurant received a certain rating.

In the fiscal year 2008-2009, 20 restaurants had their licences revoked in New Brunswick. In 2009-2010, that number dropped to 10. In 2010-2011, the number was 11.

"We can attribute the decrease in revocations probably to better operator knowledge about our inspection requirements," MacLean says. "Operator knowledge is increasing in the province. We've done a lot of food safety training with our operators."

In addition to more training, restaurant operators have a clear incentive to stay on track since the public is able to scan each and every report to see how their favourites are faring.

A check of the department's restaurant inspection webpage yesterday afternoon showed a only a couple of red-flagged restaurants scattered throughout the province (though none were closed for non-compliance) and a handful of restaurants flagged yellow. Most of the hundreds of restaurants listed received a green rating.

In Moncton, the Deluxe Fish & Chips on Mountain Road was red-flagged earlier this week, but it has since been re-inspected twice and now sits with a dark yellow rating with only a sanitizer dispenser still broken.

After initial inspection on Tuesday, the restaurant received a light red grade. Problems included rodent droppings found in the downstairs dry storage area, tea bags and utensils found in handwashing sinks and food stored under a dirty, dusty fan. The dry storage area was dirty with food debris, according to the report, and bacon was cooling at room temperature, among other infractions.

The restaurant was re-inspected Thursday, with the inspector noting several infractions had been corrected. However, the light red rating remained. It was noted that a pest control company had caught a mouse, but droppings were still observed.

The restaurant was inspected again yesterday with the broken sanitizer listed as the only remaining problem.

The restaurant's manager and a company official declined requests for comment when contacted by the Times & Transcript.

Other restaurant owners in Moncton appear to be in favour of the public having increased knowledge of their work.

"We take pride in our food safety and in the cleanliness of our restaurants," says Clarke Buskard, owner of Montana's Cookhouse on Mapleton Road. The restaurant operator says his company has their own private inspections monthly that are more stringent than even the province's inspections.

Buskard has been in the restaurant business in the area for more than 30 years. He used to own the McDonald's restaurants in Metro Moncton and owned Montana's before selling it a few years ago, then buying it back from the corporation.

Until yesterday, he wasn't aware that the province had been posting restaurant inspections online, but it doesn't concern him anyway.

"I think if somebody wasn't running a very good restaurant, they might be concerned," he says.

Natalie Durand, dining room manager at Graffiti on Main Street, also has no issues with the province posting inspection results online.

"As far as I know, we have always had the restaurant inspections hanging on our wall anyway," she says.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is just an extension of that."

Durand says the public postings are good for restaurants and for the public as it allows consumers to make informed decisions on where to dine.

"We want to be proud of our report card just like anything someone is assessed for," she said.

Currently, the Department of Health only posts restaurants' most recent inspection reports. Scott MacLean says he would like to one day be able to post restaurants' entire inspection history so the public has even more information available to them.

MacLean says there are about 55 restaurant inspectors working in New Brunswick and another five agri-food inspectors that inspect dairy farms and slaughterhouses.

"We do a lot of training with our inspectors so there is consistency between inspectors and between regions," he says.

"(But) there does have to be a certain amount of professional judgement when you're doing an inspection."

Restaurants are generally reviewed one to three times a year, depending on whether they are considered a low, medium or high risk to offend or re-offend.

Their risk level is based on population served, past history and types of food they prepare. Inspection reports are posted online within 24 to 48 hours of an inspection.

* The Department of Health's restaurant inspection page can be found online at http://www1.gnb.ca/0601/fseinspectresults.asp

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The New Brunswick Department of Health posts its restaurant inspection results online. 
A colour-coded rating is used to show how restaurants have fared in inspection, and complete inspection reports are also posted in PDF format. 
To view inspection results, visit: http://www1.gnb.ca/0601/fseinspectresults.asp
Following are the colour ratings: 
* Green: High standard of compliance with no more than five minor violations.
* Light yellow: General compliance with six to nine minor violations.
* Dark yellow: General compliance with no more than three major violations.
* Red with lines: Corrections are required with one or more critical violation and/or four or more major violations and/or 10 or more minor violations noted.
* Solid red: Licence has been revoked for non-compliance.