How many of you have friends and/or family members whose house you just absolutely refuse to eat at due to unsatisfactory conditions and cleanliness? We have all been there one time or another. Why should your restaurant experience be any different? Especially, since you are choosing to willingly patronize an establishment with your hard earned money. It’s really amazing how many individuals fail to look at the health department scores posted in restaurants. These random inspections are set in place to grade an established restaurant cleanliness, potential health risk, and adherence to environmental health code standards. How many times have we been out to eat and the next day realized how precious life was after spending countless hours running back and forth to the restroom. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying every case of food poisoning is a result of low health scores, but it definitely increases your chances of making a trip to the doctor.
It’s such a disappointment when you pull into a drive-thru, order your food, and roll up to the window to find out your local fast food restaurant has a score of 83. Some may say “That’s not bad”, let us examine this a little further. So 83 out of 100, only 17 points that’s a B; Passing. Sooo 17% of the time someone may not wash their hands after using the restroom and return to the floor to prepare your food. Also 17% of the time employees aren't preventing food cross contamination during preparation, storage or display, or there were some items not being kept at the proper temperatures, which could in fact cause bacteria growth or food to spoil. These are only a few factors to think about and take into consideration. Let’s not forget improper labeling of items, or bug infestation. When you take a closer look at the type of food service location the restaurant specializes in, it really puts some things into perspective. Let’s take a look at a coffee shop? You specialize in making coffee, selling doughnut, muffins, pre-cooked breakfast sandwiches. These type of businesses do not prepare uncooked food or products. There shouldn’t be any reason why cleanliness should be an issue. To me this is a direct reflection on management. If you can’t keep your place of work clean, leads me to think your own home is not up to par and you frankly don’t care.
I encourage everyone to take an extra moment to pay attention to the signs posted on the wall. If it’s not there, you have the right to ask, or even check it out for yourself online. Many county Health Departments post copies of the scores for all local restaurants that are open for business serving the public. Though there are some categories that that are not food related, it is in our best interest to know how a restaurant carries themselves behind the front counters and dining rooms. An “A” shouldn’t be hard to come by if the rules and regulations of the local Health Department are followed and management enforced the staff to follow them. We look forward to reading your comments and concerns.