The Texas County Health Department offered insight last week to the inspection process of area restaurants.
Facilities that serve food are routinely inspected based on level of risk every 12-18 months or if a complaint is received. The level is determined when the business answers a series of 10 questions. The questions pertain to the menu, steps taken to prepare foods, the number of customers served on average and inspection history.
Routine inspections are unannounced and occur while food preparation is taking place. When an inspector arrives, the first question asked is, “Who is in charge today?” The Food Code emphasizes the need to have someone in charge that is familiar with food safety and is supervising the rest of the employees to make sure they are using safe food handling practices. Once the person is identified, the inspector will assess what is taking place at the moment – which foods are cooking, cooling, being reheated or being hot held for service.
The menu is reviewed for any changes from the previous inspection. Restaurants frequently change how they prepare foods depending on labor costs and availability. Foods that were once prepared from scratch may now be purchased frozen and reheated. The inspector will also monitor the temperatures of food being held during all stages of production. They will ask questions about the food in the walk-in cooler – when was it prepared, how was it cooled, when will it be served and how long will it be kept before being discarded. The person in charge must be able to answer these questions, or the business could be cited for a violation for “lack of demonstration of knowledge.”
As the inspector tours the kitchen and asks questions, they must also observe what is taking place in the background. Are employees washing their hands when necessary? Are they using gloves when touching ready-to-eat foods? Do they have hair restraints on?
Once the inspection is complete, the paperwork process begins. The first page of the inspection form lists all the critical stages of operation, from hand washing to proper cooling. The inspector notes what they were able to observe during the inspection. The second page allows room for documenting violations and notating whether the violations were “critical” or “non-critical.” Critical violations can often be corrected immediately. If not, the inspector will return for a re-inspection to ensure critical violations are corrected.
Multiple inspections are performed each day to ensure the food you eat is safe – just one way the health department is helping people live longer, happier, healthier lives.
For questions on this or other environmental public health issues, call Ronnie Gaston, environmental public health specialist, at the Texas County Health Department, at 417-967-4131.