CANADA: System empowers public

28.aug.09
The Windsor Star
Mike Bennett

Mike Bennett, writing on behalf of the Safe Food Counts Committee,
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit., says every year, 11 to 13 million
Canadians suffer from a food-borne illness, and it is the health unit's
responsibility to move toward reducing that risk. The goal of the Safe
Food Counts program is to increase public awareness, increase adherence
to food safety standards and reduce the risk of food-borne illness.
Rating programs for food premises are not an invention of the
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit to prevent outbreaks. For example,
since the inception of the DineSafe program in Toronto in 2002, there
has been a 30 per cent reduction of sporadic food-borne illness (not
sure that can be proven - dp). Any program that helps make the community
more aware of food safety practices is always timely.
Personal judgment will undoubtedly enter into any professional's work.
Much effort has been put into ensuring this program is both as
consistent and objective as possible.
For one, the public health inspector does not arbitrarily pick the star
score to assign to premises. Each inspector uses the same inspection
form for every premise, and the questions used on this inspection form
are readily available for all members of the public as well as owners
and operators on the Safe Food Counts website (www.safefoodcounts.ca).
After an inspection is complete, the computer system that is used by
each inspector calculates a score based on the infractions observed and
that score is what determines how many stars to assign. Each infraction
has its own assigned value based on the degree of health risk to the
community. For example, contaminated food would affect a rating more
negatively than broken floor tiles based on the above rationale.
The Province of Ontario has mandated that at a minimum, web-based
disclosure of food inspection results will be required for all health
units.
Publicly disclosing results by signs in the windows helps ensure that
the public will have access to this information without needing
immediate access to the Internet, or the ability to navigate the
Internet in general.
Furthermore, Windsor-Essex County is a strong multicultural community,
and the stars are a universal symbol that is easy to understand.
Individuals who live in our community all have the equal right to be
informed.
We agree with you, it is extremely important to keep the food handlers
educated. All individuals who handle or prepare food for the purpose of
immediate consumption will soon be required to take a food safety
course, and in fact, many large establishments require food handling
certification now.
Ultimately, the purpose of this program is to empower the public to make
informed decisions on where they choose to eat or purchase food.
Once again, food premises are being inspected the same way they always
have been, the only difference now is that we are asking owners to post
their results.
The purpose of the health unit is to enable all residents of
Windsor-Essex County to be as healthy as possible and to facilitate
social conditions to ensure equal opportunity in attaining health for
all.
It is entirely up to each individual to choose where they will or will
not purchase food.