Learning the A,B,C’s of restaurant health inspections
When a Los Angeles County health inspector recently showed up unannounced at a Santa Monica restaurant, sudden panic set in.
The bartender in the back frantically made sure his bar was in order before the anticipated examination. A waitress pulled out her best flirting techniques in an attempt to butter up the inspectors.
It’s a common scene in Santa Monica where an average of four health inspectors are roaming the streets each day, surprising restaurants, grocery stores and bars with their food thermometers, ultra violet flashlights and specially-trained eyes.
Many managers of those establishments nearly jump out of their skin when the health inspector shows up, fearing the worst — that the place will get shut down and they’ll get fired. When managers are asked to be accompanied by the health inspector to tour the establishment, they stumble and fumble around while they try not to appear nervous.
The Los Angeles County Health Department serves as the watchdog for the public in making sure that the people who handle our food are doing it safely, cleanly and properly.
And for the most part, Santa Monica’s kitchens are clean. At the end of this fiscal year, which runs from July to June, 21 businesses had been temporarily closed for unsafe or unclean conditions. The health department counts 686 businesses throughout the city that handle food or beverage. There were 1,667 inspections conducted in Santa Monica last year, resulting in 41 ranked as a “B” and only six given a “C.”
Last Tuesday, environmental health specialist Jacklin Mikhail made three surprise inspections in Santa Monica — Ralph’s Grocery Store on Cloverfield Boulevard, The Slice on Wilshire Boulevard and the Fairmont Miramar Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.
They all fared well on the LA County Environmental Health Department’s grading system, but no one got a perfect score either. It’s rare that any place does, thanks to a rigorous grading system that was instituted in 1998 after a Los Angeles television news station went undercover into restaurants and found egregious behavior in kitchens throughout out the county.
“Public concern turned into political outrage and a month later a grading system went into effect and mandatory public education was required,” said Terrance Powell, chief environmental health specialist for LA County. “Every owner now has to pass a test for food handling.”
Since Santa Monica adopted the grading system in 1999, the amount of restaurant closures and dirty, unsafe kitchens has been reduced significantly.
“At that time, Santa Monica was significantly lower than the rest of the county with grades,” Powell said. “Overall the operators are doing a pretty good job. It’s very gratifying to see the industry has stepped up to the plate.”
“Overall the operators are doing a pretty good job. It’s very gratifying to see the industry has stepped up to the plate.” — — TERRANCE POWELL L.A. County Health Department
Food establishments are measured on a unique grading system that deducts points for infractions. The system was devised to allow the public a way to gauge for themselves whether it’s clean or safe enough to eat somewhere.
Last week, each establishment had points knocked off — some were minor problems but others were more serious. Mikhail will return unannounced within a few weeks to make sure the problems have been corrected.
“We have an aggressive monitoring system,” Powell said. “We are meticulous and we will come back to make sure the corrections have been made.”
Inspectors show up unannounced and during the restaurant’s busiest time to get the best picture of how an operation is run day to day. Critics say it only gives the health department a “snapshot” of what’s going on in the kitchen, but Powell disagrees.
“How we find you is how you operate,” he said. “We try to change habits and change behavior. Grading and coming unannounced tends to change people’s habits and teach them that they have to be diligent and prepared all the time.”
Mikhail acknowledges that while she is a public official who lives and dies by regulations, inspecting a restaurant does-n’t have to be completely an unpleasant experience. She approaches her job as one of a teacher, educating when it’s needed and deducting points when it’s warranted.
“We are here to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing,” Mikhail said. “It’s not our intent to set them up for failure.”
Matt Aminoff, owner of The Slice, welcomed Mikhail, who has been inspecting the pizza shop for more than a year, into his kitchen.
“I have nothing to hide,” he said, acknowledging that with each inspection, the better his staff is educated on how to keep the operation safe and clean.
“We have an open kitchen and customers can see it,” Aminoff said, adding he is never nervous when the inspector shows up because he keeps it up to snuff. “Believe me, (customers) are much more critical of us than (the health department).”
Mikhail agrees. For a small operation, The Slice does a good job of keeping things in order, she said.
“Overall, I think you guys are running a good show,” she told Aminoff. “It’s relatively clean for as much traffic as it gets.”
Making the grade The county environmental health department requires that every establishment hang its dirty laundry in the front window for all to see.
It’s no problem when the sign says the restaurant has an “A” rating, but when it slips to a “B” or a “C” a customer may think twice before eating there.
“When I walk in, you have 100 points, a full hand,” Powell said. “After that, it is a sliding scale.”
But what does the letter mean to the average consumer?
An “A” rating means the establishment has between 90 and 100 points. A “B” rating indicates the place has between 80 to 89 points and a “C” rating gives between 70 and 79 points. If an establishment falls below a “C,” it is unsafe to operate and it will be shut down until the violations have been corrected.
Points are knocked off based on how serious the infraction is.
“High risk” violations carry six-point deductions and range from everything from unsafe food temperatures to a lack of employees washing their hands, or evidence that rodents, cockroaches or flies pose an immediate risk. A restaurant could be shut down for any violation in this category.
Inspectors have special flashlights that can detect whether rodents have been crawling on food.
“We’ll be able to tell if there is evidence that the rodent stepped on it, peed on it, defecated on it or ate some of it,” Powell said.
“Moderate risk” violations carry four-point deductions that also address food temperatures in thawing meats, or if the food is being prepared in an inappropriate place. “Low risk” violations carry one point deduction and mostly address operational procedures like employees not wearing hair restraints, structural problems in the building or inappropriate storage of food and supplies.
Many restaurant managers will tell customers that the establishment fell to a “B” or a “C” because one minor infraction was found, like a towel was left on the floor. But in reality, it may have been several violations that led to the downgrade.
“The score is cumulative,” Powell said. “But now the public can ask to see the report because the restaurant has to disclose what we found... It’s just one more tool to make an informed choice.”
The health department is currently making new signs that must be posted in all food establishments that tell the public that they can request a copy of the latest inspection report on the spot. By looking at the report, the consumer will be able to see whether or not the restaurant’s employees didn’t wash their hands, the place has rodents or it isn’t handling food properly.
“The public is not savvy, not informed enough to know what the grade means,” Powell said. “The key here is to be transparent and we are going to tell people what we found.”
Consumers can also log onto the health department’s Web site at www.lapub-lichealth.org/eh to read inspection reports on any restaurant in the county.
Asked if they would eat at a restaurant with a “B” or “C” rating, Powell, Mikhail and Aminoff all said they would.
“A ‘B’or a ‘C’is safe enough to operate, otherwise they would be closed,” Mikhail said. “But I would ask to see the report.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 31, 2002. Read the original PDF.