CANADA: Auditor general says restaurant inspectors aren't enforcing rules

02.feb.08
The Telegram
Peter Walsh

Restaurant inspectors are behind schedule and short staffed. Violators sometimes go unpunished. 
Newfoundland Government Services Minister Kevin O'Brien says restaurants are safe. Auditor General John Noseworthy isn't so sure.
In his annual report Thursday, Noseworthy found that inspectors sometimes let critical health hazards slip by. Examples include allowing five restaurants that failed inspection to stay open. The AG also found that one restaurant - which he says he can't name - violated two critical health hazards during eight consecutive health inspections, but remained open.
Noseworthy was quoted as saying, "So, that's an interesting thing. You have a critical hazard that's not corrected and yet the facility is not closed. You'd have to draw your own conclusion as to whether or not it's safe."
He also found that 11 per cent of restaurants were operating without a valid licence at the time of his review. Noseworthy deflected a question about his own faith in restaurants by quipping, "I cook at home."
O'Brien was cited as saying critical health violations are often corrected immediately, but different violations can pop up under the same heading during later inspections, adding, "It may be in the same category, but it may not be the same violation. The auditor general is looking at the numbers, but he's not really drilling down to the reasons why."
Noseworthy rejects that argument, saying the department needs to focus more on serious violations. Currently, Government Services ranks every licensed restaurant in terms of its risk to human health. Restaurants are rated either low, medium or high risk.
The province is about 50 per cent ahead of schedule for low-risk restaurants. But inspectors are 10 per cent to 20 per cent behind on medium- to high-risk establishments.
Noseworthy was further quoted as saying, "I would question the deployment of resources there. Why wouldn't you just concentrate more on the medium and high versus the low? So, it is a concern that there are food establishments that are not being inspected with the frequency that's been ... put in place by the department. There's likely an issue."
O'Brien said the department is having difficulty filling six vacant health inspector jobs. He said some restaurants are in remote locations. Bad weather can prevent inspections, too, he explained.