By Melanie Payne, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Feb. 1--Despite opposition from restaurateurs, a key Sacramento County advisory group will urge the county Board of Supervisors to require restaurants to post the results of their health inspections for public view.
The supervisors, at a March 11 meeting, will consider this recommendation and several others aimed at improving food safety at 5,500 county businesses that sell food.
Besides posting health inspections, advisers in the Sacramento Environmental Commission are also recommending increased inspections and enforcement, providing additional education and disclosing health inspection results.
If the supervisors approve the changes, the county's Environmental Health Division would begin implementation in July.
Division officials spent several months developing the proposed changes following an August 2002 report in The Bee revealing deficiencies in the restaurant inspection process.
Restaurants and grocery-industry members continue to oppose any grading system or public posting of health inspection reports, while consumers and their advocates overwhelmingly favor the ideas, said Richard Sanchez, chief of the Environmental Health Division.
The staff's recommendation is for full disclosure, making the 'full inspection report available, without asking for it,' said Sanchez, whose unit oversees inspections of restaurants, stores, schools and festivals where food is sold.
State law requires restaurateurs to make the most recent health inspection report available to anyone who asks.
Such requests can disrupt restaurant operations and inconvenience or embarrass patrons, said Mel Knight, a member of the advisory group and Sanchez's director.
In addition, he noted, some restaurant workers and owners are unaware of the law and don't readily comply with such requests.
Another element of the disclosure program is for the Environmental Health Division to develop a 'certificate of excellence' to recognize restaurants that have exemplary inspection reports over three consecutive inspections.
Other changes to the food program will include:
--Increased inspections for restaurants. Currently, restaurants and groceries are inspected once a year. Under the new proposal, the frequency would increase to three times a year.
--Mandatory food school for restaurateurs who fail to comply with food safety laws.
--Increased enforcement that could lead to administrative hearings and referral to the district attorney for restaurant owners who refuse to keep clean and safe kitchens.
Implementing the changes in the food-safety program will cost $1.2 million, Sanchez said, primarily for additional inspectors and administrative support. Some of the costs will be offset by the department's reserves, he said.
Restaurant owners could expect an average 20 percent increase in their fees each year for the next four years. Food program fees currently range from $34 for a temporary stand and $375 for a bakery to $551 for a restaurant with a bar. The county has yet to determine the exact fee schedule for the next fiscal year.
The commission also recommended that the county develop its own Internet database of restaurant inspections that can be accessed by the public.
THE COST FOR INSPECTIONS:
If changes proposed for the food inspection program are implemented, fees will increase 20 percent each year on average for the next four years. Here's a look at some fees charged now:
--Produce stand: $188
-- Retail market smaller than 6,000 square feet: $255
--Retail market of 15,000 square feet or larger: $496
--Certified farmers' market: $330
--Bar: $255
--Restaurant with bar: $551
--Restaurant: $379
--School and/or nonprofit senior meal program: $195
--Bakery: $375
--Commissary: $285
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(c) 2003, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
