Food health inspections available online

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Rather than facing the awkwardness of demanding a health inspection report from restaurant managers, Santa Barbara residents can now go online to find out whether their favorite food joint has any recent health violations.
As of today, the County Public Health Department started posting results of retail food facility inspections on its website, www.sbcphd.org/ehs. Users can enter the name of a restaurant or food vendor to view the dates of inspections since January 2007 and a list of any major violations.

“We already were recording major violations in our database and we hadn’t done a whole lot with that data,” said Rick Merrifield, director of environmental health services for the county.
“I’m very interested in disclosure and providing information. I’m hoping that this is something that will benefit the public’s right to know or hunger for information.”
Major violations that will be listed include improper food holding temperatures, employee illness, improper cooling and reheating, rodent or insect infestation, and improper disposal of wastewater.
In his own experience, Merrifield said while customers can still obtain a full inspection report at any food facility, many people he has spoken to are not comfortable with that scenario.
“We found that that was really not a real popular option for most consumers,” he said. “…It’s kind of awkward to do that, especially if you are already at the restaurant and in the mood to eat.”
Health inspections currently take place countywide at about 2,700 restaurants, grocery stores, snack bars, schools, catering trucks and farmers’ markets, as well as other food facilities. Inspection reports can also be obtained by calling 681-4900.
Merrifield said 15 other counties in the state post inspection information online and, due to an updated state retail food code, the approach to health inspections has become more consistent.
“We’re getting more uniform and doing things more similarly,” Merrifield said. “That allows information to be more compatible.”
In addition to improving transparency, he hopes the online service will also keep restaurant and storeowners on their toes when it comes to food safety.
“From our perspective, it actually helps enforcement,” he said. “If the information is readily available to the public, obviously business people are sensitive to that information.”
He said a 30-day test run of the system, during which business owners were informed by a widespread mailing campaign of its existence, failed to generate any comments from retail food facility owners.
“We’re not trying to be inflammatory or anything,” Merrifield said. “This does make it easier, so I guess I wanted to hear from them if there were objections or suggestions.”
He said health officials started looking into the concept of posting inspections online in July 2007 as a way to enhance the usefulness of their website.
Since health officials already enter inspection information into their database, running the online system won’t cost anything in terms of data entry. Maintaining the technology will run an annual cost of about $4,000.
After conducting a few quality control tests of the system, Merrifield suggested that users start with a broad search and narrow it down if necessary.
As far as reaction from the public, he said while he hasn’t received any comments yet, he feels people will be pleased to know that information is at their fingertips.
“People who know about it seem to like the idea,” he said. “…I think it’s going to be well-received.”