ONTARIO: Public Health struggling to keep up with inspections

10.nov.10
CTV News

Public health inspectors in Waterloo Region are overwhelmed with their responsibilities, and while they're supposed to give consumers an added sense of confidence, it's hard for them to keep up.
Meanwhile, it's not uncommon for food premises to be cited for potential health hazards, sometimes on more than one occasion.
While health inspectors make their visits unannounced, and have the power to lock the doors if they see cases that don't meet health and safety standards, the volume of the workload has grown.
But inspections are important. Health Canada estimates there are as many as 13 million cases of food borne illness each year.
Public health inspector Paul Norman says, "The major things that we are looking for that cause food borne illness, we will never cut corners on those…whether you get to see both washrooms before you go or something, maybe yes, maybe no."
Microbiologist Keith Warriner, who works in the Food Science Department at the University of Guelph, says while tracking the original source is difficult, at any eating establishment where speed is the goal, there will be risks.
"You've got a whole range of different microbes that can contaminate food prepared in food outlets that are potentially fatal in certain cases."
Provincial guidelines say establishments where the threat of food borne illnesses are the highest, including full service restaurants and hospital kitchens, must be inspected three times per year.
Medium risk facilities like fast food restaurants and baked goods shops must be inspected twice per year.
But Chris Komorowksi, manager of Waterloo Region's Environmental Health Department says that doesn't always happen.
In Waterloo Region, 25 public health inspectors must inspect close to 2,200 food premises.
On top of that, the same inspectors are responsible for checking public pools, rabies investigations, assessing chemical spills, monitoring the safety of public drinking water, tracking West Nile virus and investigating outbreaks at long term care facilities and hospital, just to name a few.
Norman says "It's not unusual to see people break down crying just with trying to meet the demands that are placed upon them.
Records show that after three years of improvement, inspection rates have fallen in the last two years.