Restaurant Inspection Research Articles

Foodborne Illness Complaint Systems Detect, and Restaurant Inspection Programs Prevent Restaurant-Associated Foodborne Illness Outbreaks.

Restaurants are important settings for foodborne illness transmission. Environmental health agencies routinely inspect restaurants to assess compliance with food safety regulations. They also evaluate foodborne illness complaints from consumers to detect potential outbreaks of foodborne illness. Local environmental health agencies were surveyed to identify methods used to conduct surveillance for consumer complaints of foodborne illness, link them to inspection grading and disclosure practices, and evaluate the association between these practices and the number of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We developed a novel framework for assessing the effectiveness of restaurant inspection grading and disclosure of inspection results while accounting for any biases introduced by surveillance factors that affect outbreak detection. Our findings showed the importance of routine restaurant inspection grading and disclosure practices as prevention measures and having a centralized database to manage consumer complaints as a useful surveillance tool for detecting outbreaks. Improving consumer complaint system structure and management can bolster outbreak detection and maximize limited public health resources while increasing the efficiency of complaint-based surveillance.

HYGIENE SANITATION AND FOOD SAFETY IN EMPLOYEE RESTAURANTS

Restaurants is a food processing place that produces and sells various types of food and beverages for the wider community. With the development of restaurants, it is necessary to make food and beverage health efforts with the aim that people's ability to manage can be increased so that people avoid health problems or food poisoning. One of the efforts that can be done is to check the feasibility of the restaurant's hygiene and sanitation. The purpose of this study was for this examination to determine hygiene and sanitation in employee restaurants from 4 factors, employee, equipment, food, and place. The research method used is descriptive qualitative by evaluating employee restaurants in the mess area of industrial forest plantation companies by filling out a restaurant sanitation hygiene inspection form issued by the Directorate of Environmental Health of the Republic of Indonesia in 2017, informant from owner and canteen employee. The results show that the restaurant building is semi-permanent. Workers do not have uniforms and do not carry out routine health checks. Food storage cabinet equipment is not available properly for foodstuffs that require closed storage and room temperature. Clean water sources and hand washing facilities and toilets are well available. The food preparation provides a varied menu but the calories are not calculated for the nutritional value. It is recommended for companies and restaurant managers to manage menu calculations that are sufficient in calories and nutrition for employees, provide safer food storage places, and employees are also advised to use uniforms and health checks to keep food from contamination so that consumers can receive healthy food that is also safe for consumption.

A statistical comparison of restaurant infractions between Toronto and Vancouver

Across Canada, restaurant inspections are conducted to ensure that the food served to the public in almost all public eating facilities, is safe to consume and sell. The ratings and infractions correspond with the standards a restaurant is operating in compliance with legislation. There have been indications in the past of restaurants in different regions or serving specific types of food, receiving lower ratings than others. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge and research on the difference between major cities in Canada, regarding restaurant infractions. By focussing on Vancouver and Toronto restaurants, this research may provide insight into the different legislation of the two regions, highlight different Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) practices and ultimately provide information for knowledge translation into policies that these regions follow.

Food premises inspection violations and inspection frequency during COVID-19 in Vancouver Island Health Authority

Food service establishments, such as restaurants are subject to regulatory compliance, which acts to protect the health of the public from health risks and hazards that may arise in these settings. Ensuring compliance during inspections is carried out by public health professionals including Environmental Health Officers (EHOs). The COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted the public health sector, with many programs, services and professional involvement being enhanced to better support the COVID-19 response. This study investigated whether restaurant inspections on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, were impacted during COVID-19, including inspection frequency, inspection violations and hazard ratings.

Foodborne Outbreak Rates Associated with Restaurant Inspection Grading and Posting at the Point of Service: Evaluation Using National Foodborne Outbreak Surveillance Data

A previously conducted national survey of restaurant inspection programs associated the practice of disclosing inspection results to consumers at the restaurant point of service (POS) with fewer foodborne outbreaks. We used data from the national Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS) to assess the reproducibility of the survey results. Programs that participated in the survey accounted for approximately 23% of the single-state foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings reported to FDOSS during 2016 to 2018. Agencies that disclosed inspection results at the POS reported fewer outbreaks (mean = 0.29 outbreaks per 1,000 establishments) than those that disclosed results online (0.7) or not at all (1.0). Having any grading method for inspections was associated with fewer reported outbreaks than having no grading method. Agencies that used letter grades had the lowest numbers of outbreaks per 1,000 establishments. There was a positive association (correlation coefficient, R2 = 0.29) between the mean number of foodborne illness complaints per 1,000 establishments, per the survey, and the mean number of restaurant outbreaks reported to FDOSS (R2 = 0.29). This association was stronger for bacterial toxin-mediated outbreaks (R2 = 0.35) than for norovirus (R2 = 0.10) or Salmonella (R2 = 0.01) outbreaks. Our cross-sectional study findings are consistent with previous observations that linked the practice of posting graded inspection results at the POS with reduced occurrence of foodborne illnesses and outbreaks associated with restaurants. Support for foodborne illness surveillance programs and food regulatory activities at local health agencies is foundational for food safety systems coordinated at state and federal levels.

Dynamic Restaurants Quality Mapping Using Online User Reviews

Millions of users post comments to TripAdvisor daily, together with a numeric evaluation of their experience using a rating scale of between 1 and 5 stars. At the same time, inspectors dispatched by national and local authorities visit restaurant premises regularly to audit hygiene standards, safe food practices, and overall cleanliness. The purpose of our study is to analyze the use of online-generated reviews (OGRs) as a tool to complement official restaurant inspection procedures. Our case study-based approach, with the help of a Python-based scraping library, consists of collecting OGR data from TripAdvisor and comparing them to extant restaurants’ health inspection reports. Our findings reveal that a correlation does exist between OGRs and national health system scorings. In other words, OGRs were found to provide valid indicators of restaurant quality based on inspection ratings and can thus contribute to the prevention of foodborne illness among citizens in real time. The originality of the paper resides in the use of big data and social network data as a an easily accessible, zero-cost, and complementary tool in disease prevention systems. Incorporated in restaurant management dashboards, it will aid in determining what action plans are necessary to improve quality and customer experience on the premises.

Do restaurant managers, consumers, and inspectors have the same understanding of restaurant inspections?

ABSTRACT This study compared three groups (consumers, restaurant managers, and inspectors) in their understanding of restaurant inspection violations under different inspection formats. Addition of a coding word such as critical or non-critical changed interpretation of the seriousness of a violation statement, particularly for restaurant managers and consumers. In addition, seriousness attached to certain words, such as “priority” was not consistent among the three groups. Changes in perception with the use of coding words were similar for consumers and restaurant managers, but inspectors perceived violations differently for the inspection format using the scoring of priority, priority foundation, or core violations.

A Public Health Informatics Solution to Improving Food Safety in Restaurants: Putting the Missing Piece in the Puzzle.

Foodborne illnesses remain an important public health challenge in the United States causing an estimated 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths per year. Restaurants are frequent settings for foodborne illness transmission. Public health surveillance - the continual, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of reports of health data to prevent and control illness - is a prerequisite for an effective food control system. While restaurant inspection data are routinely collected, these data are not regularly aggregated like traditional surveillance data. However, there is evidence that these data are a valuable tool for understanding foodborne illness outbreaks and threats to food safety. This article discusses the challenges and opportunities for incorporating routine restaurant inspection data as a surveillance tool for monitoring and improving foodborne illness prevention activities. The three main challenges are: 1) lack of a national framework; 2) lack of data standards and interoperability; and 3) limited access to restaurant inspection data. Tapping into the power of public health informatics represents an opportunity to address these challenges. Advancing the food safety system by improving restaurant inspection information systems and making restaurant inspection data available to support decision-making represents an opportunity to practice smarter food safety.

Occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes in Counter-Sliced Turkey Meat Samples from Independent Delis in New York City

Research suggests that small, independent delicatessens are less likely to follow proper sanitation procedures, including slicer inspection, which could lead to a higher likelihood of these delis being a reservoir for Listeria monocytogenes growth and cross-contamination. This study was undertaken to determine the incidence of L. monocytogenes in counter-sliced turkey deli meat obtained from independent delis in an urban city. Deli meat, counter-sliced on site, was collected from 118 independent delis in New York City. The samples were analyzed for L. monocytogenes using the U.S. Department of Agriculture Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook methodology for isolation and confirmation. The selection criteria for delis included using the city's restaurant inspection and grading system. Two samples, from separate delis, were confirmed as positive for L. monocytogenes (1.69%). Analysis of the genomic sequences of one of the samples revealed a close match to a cluster of six clinical isolates, which were part of an ongoing multistate listeriosis outbreak spanning four states. The sequence of the second isolate matched a clinical isolate in a neighboring state. Both isolates were obtained from delis that did not have the top inspection grade. Although a snapshot of one urban area, this study is the first report on the current incidence of L. monocytogenes on counter-sliced deli meat from independent deli establishments. This study suggests that these delis can potentially serve as sources of L. monocytogenes contamination or contribute to downstream foodborne listeriosis. Information provided by city inspection and grading systems, in addition to the letter grade, may serve as a tool to identify delis with potential L. monocytogenes contamination issues and a basis for product and environmental sampling by public health authorities.

Validation of a Simple Two-Point Method To Assess Restaurant Compliance with Food Code Cooling Rates

Outbreaks from improperly cooled foods continue to occur despite clearly described Food Code cooling guidelines. It is difficult for regulators to enforce these guidelines because they are typically in an establishment for less than the 6 h needed to document proper cooling. Prior research proposed using a novel method to estimate cooling rates based on two time-temperature points, but this method has not yet been validated. Time-temperature profiles of 29 different foods were collected in 25 different restaurants during cooling. Cooling curves were divided into two categories: typical (21 foods) and atypical (eight foods) prior to further analysis. Analysis of the typical cooling curves used simple linear regression to calculate cooling rates. The atypical cooling profiles were studied using Monte Carlo simulations of the cooling rate. Almost all linearized typical cooling curves had high (>0.90) R2 values. Six foods with typical cooling profiles that did not pass Food Code cooling times were correctly identified by the two-point model as having slow cooling rates. Three foods that did not pass Food Code cooling times were identified by the two-point model as having marginal cooling rates. Ten of 12 foods identified by the two-point model as having acceptable cooling rates met Food Code cooling times. Most (six of eight) foods that were considered to have atypical cooling curves failed to meet the Food Code cooling times. The two-point model was also able to determine whether these foods would fail based on Food Code guidelines depending upon the simulation criteria used. Our data show that food depth has a strong influence on cooling rate. Containers with a food depth ≥7.6 cm (3 in.) were more likely to have cooling rates slower than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Model Food Code cooling rate. This analysis shows that the two-point method can be a useful screening tool to identify potential cooling rate problems during a routine restaurant inspection visit.

Efficacy of disclosed food safety inspections in restaurants

Noncompliances that decrease food safety are commonly detected in food safety inspections at restaurants, and challenges in correcting the noncompliances have been reported. Disclosure of inspection results has been used as a tool to decrease the rate of noncompliances by increasing motivation to attain and maintain compliance with regulations. However, the efficacy of disclosed inspection results is not well understood. In addition, preannouncement of the inspection and inspection interval may have an impact on the efficacy of inspections. In this longitudinal retrospective study based on disclosed restaurant inspections in Finland from the years 2017–2018, we examined the stability of compliance, correction of noncompliances at the item level, association of preannouncement with item-specific grades and association of inspection interval with compliance. The results show that compliance (inspection result Excellent) was maintained between two consecutive inspections in 60.5% of the restaurants. The inspection result To be corrected (C) improved in 72.3% and Poor (D) in 33.3% of the restaurants to an Excellent (A) or Good (B) result. Still, some noncompliances in items crucial to food safety were not corrected. This demonstrates that disclosure alone is not sufficient; other measures are also needed in food control. The inspection interval did not reveal any significant association with the stability of compliance. The proportions of C and D grades were at minimum twofold in unannounced compared to preannounced inspections in most inspected items. Unannounced inspections are therefore necessary to receive an accurate impression of the inspected items on the premises.

Grade pending: the effect of the New York City restaurant sanitary grades inspection program on Salmonellosis

New York City began public reporting of restaurant sanitary inspection grades in 2010. The policy’s impact on the incidence of foodborne illness has not been previously studied. We used a retrospective cohort design to evaluate whether the introduction of sanitary grades in 2010 reduced the incidence of Salmonellosis. To estimate the policy impact, we performed a difference-in-differences analysis in which in New York City was compared to a “synthetic control group” consisting of a weighted sample of comparison geographies. We evaluated reported Salmonellosis cases from April 2003 through December 2015 from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDS) (National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, Weekly Tables of Infectious Disease Data n.d.). Our main outcome measure was quarterly risk-adjusted cases of reported Salmonellosis per 100,000 residents. Results of our difference-in-differences analysis found that the New York City restaurant sanitary grades program was associated with a non-significant reduction in risk-adjusted cases of reported Salmonellosis per 100,000 (−0.31, 95% confidence interval = (−1.41, 0.80)). This finding was robust across all specifications. Consistent with recent evidence that public reporting has had little impact on public health, public reporting of restaurant sanitary inspection grades did not appear to decrease the incidence of Salmonellosis.

Grade inflation in restaurant hygiene inspections: Repeated interactions between inspectors and restaurateurs

Restaurant hygiene grading schemes are considered exemplars of targeted transparency policies. We investigate the impact of an administrative design feature found in many schemes: repeated interactions between health inspectors and restaurateurs. Data was analyzed from 336,208 inspections of 27,119 restaurants conducted by 493 inspectors from 2000 to 2010 by the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LADPH). The findings associate repeated interactions with higher public letter grades, and these grades drop with the assignment of a new inspector. Specifically, a one-unit increase in the logged number of visits by a prior inspector is associated with a 71% increased chance the restaurant will be downgraded to a lower letter grade upon the arrival of a new inspector. Exploiting an inspection protocol change in 2007, we also find that inspectors with more repeated visits to a restaurant are more likely to code a higher number of compliant rules as “Not Observed,” thereby possibly avoiding potential violations and corresponding penalties. Analysis of subsequent consumer complaints filed with the local health department shows that a one-unit increase in repeated inspector-restaurateur interactions is associated with an 10% increase in the likelihood of a consumer complaint, suggesting a public health impact. Coupled with prior evidence, the study demonstrates that administrative and design features of targeted transparency policies can impact the information provided to the public and potentially affect health outcomes.

Disgusting Face, Disease-Ridden Place?: Emoji Influence on the Interpretation of Restaurant Inspection Reports

ABSTRACT Every year, millions of Americans get sick from foodborne illness and it is estimated half of all reported instances occur at restaurants. To protect the public, regulators are encouraged to conduct restaurant inspections and disclose reports to consumers. However, inspection reporting format is inconsistent and typically contains information unclear to most consumers who often misinterpret the inspection results. Additionally, consumers are increasingly searching for this information in a digital context. Limited research explores inspection reports as communication tools. Using affect-as-information and ELM as theoretical frameworks, this experiment investigated how discrete emotions (e.g., disgust) conveyed through pictorial cues (i.e., emojis) influenced consumers’ processing of inspection reports. Participants, recruited from Amazon’s MTurk, were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions in a 3 (emoji: smiling vs. disgusted vs. none) x 2 (violation level: low vs. high) between-subjects design. Then, participants completed a questionnaire regarding perceptions and cognitive processing of the message. Results revealed that, compared to text, disgusted face emoji increased risk perceptions and avoidance behavior. In terms of emotion, smiling face emoji motivated participants to feel more emotions related to sanitation. In turn, positive feelings decreased elaboration likelihood. As predicted by ELM, involvement also predicted elaboration, such that participants who were highly involved with inspection reports elaborated more than those less involved. Involvement also moderated the relationship between emoji presented and elaboration. Practical implications are also discussed.

Disclosed restaurant inspection results on food safety show regional and local differences in Finland

The consistency of inspections is an important requirement of official food control. Inconsistency may endanger food safety and lead to mistrust in official food control. The reasons leading to inconsistency and the mitigation of inconsistency are therefore important. Here we investigated the distribution of restaurant (n = 4989) inspection grades from 2014 in Finland to elucidate reasons for possible differences in grades. The analyses revealed both regional and local differences in the overall grades. In addition, the distribution of the own-check sections' grades between local food control units revealed a large variation, indicating inconsistent assessments of inspection findings. The inspector resources in the local food control units did not explain the discrepancies. However, we found that differences in grades are to a certain extent explained by factors related to the economic status and urbanization of the area. The effects of socioeconomic factors appear moderate, and the differences in the inspectors' evaluations of compliance remain an important issue that should be addressed on a national level through inspector training.

Can Aggregated Restaurant Inspection Data Help Us Understand Why Individual Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Occur?

Restaurant inspections seek to identify and correct risk factors for foodborne illness, but restaurant inspection data are not typically used more broadly as a food safety surveillance tool. In 2015, there was an outbreak of Salmonella serotype Newport infections associated with multiple restaurants in a chain (chain A), primarily in Minnesota. The outbreak was associated with tomatoes that were likely contaminated at the point of production. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the potential usefulness of aggregated restaurant inspection data in aiding individual outbreak investigations. Reports of the last inspection for all chain A restaurants that preceded the first reported case meal date in the outbreak were obtained from local health departments and the Minnesota Department of Health. Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess differences in risk factor and good retail practice violation categories and specific violations in restaurants with zero cases (nonoutbreak restaurants) (n = 25), one to two cases (n = 16), and at least three cases (n = 13). For restaurants with a "protection from contamination" violation in the routine inspection that preceded the outbreak, the proportional odds ratio for outbreak level was 4.92 (95% confidence interval: 1.57, 15.39; P = 0.01). These findings suggest that food handling practices in the outbreak restaurants may have increased contamination of foods through cross-contamination, which in turn increased transmission at outbreak restaurants. These data suggest that aggregated data from routine inspection reports can provide useful information to aid in outbreak investigations and other foodborne illness surveillance and prevention activities.

Comparison of restaurant inspection report results and its corresponding star ratings on Yelp and Google Reviews

Background: In the current culture of dining-out, there is a greater emphasis on the overall dining experience at restaurants and less of a concern regarding food safety. The public often relies on consumer-generated review websites, such as Yelp and Google Reviews, to decide on where to eat. Each restaurant is often rated out of 5-stars based on factors such as customer service and food quality. The public perceives a restaurant with a 1-star rating poorly, whereas a restaurant with a 5-star rating is seen as excellent. Moreover, the aspect of food safety is determined by Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) who conduct inspections and assign hazard ratings to restaurants, which describe them as a low, moderate, or high-risk food premises. These inspection report results can be disseminated to the public online or through a placard system by the health authority. Currently, in most cities, there is no linkage or display of inspection report results on consumer-generated review websites. Methods: Secondary data was collected from publicly available online sources: Fraser Health’s restaurant inspection reports and two consumer-generated restaurant review websites – Yelp and Google Reviews. The author analyzed 170 randomly selected restaurants from the three most populous cities under Fraser Health’s jurisdiction (British Columbia, Canada): Surrey, Burnaby, and Abbotsford. Only independent restaurants and their routine inspection reports were considered in this study. The following data was obtained from each of the restaurant’s available routine inspection reports: current hazard rating, the average hazard score, and total number of critical violations (CVs). These variables were then compared to the current star rating found on Yelp and Google Reviews. Results: A total of six statistical analyses were conducted: two chi-square tests and four correlational analyses. When comparing the current hazard rating of the restaurant and their current star rating using chi-square tests, p = 0.0855 for Yelp and p = 0.0739 for Google Reviews. Furthermore, in all four correlational analyses, a negative linear relationship was observed, but only three resulted in statistically significant results. When comparing the average hazard score of the restaurant’s routine inspections and their current star rating, p = 0.0591 for Yelp (power = 47.21%) and p = 0.0000 for Google Reviews (power = 99.97%). When comparing the restaurant’s total CVs from routine inspections and their current star rating, p = 0.0001 for Yelp (power = 97.29%) and p = 0.0000 for Google Reviews (power = 100%). Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrated that prescribed food safety evaluations largely align with the customer perception of restaurants. Although three out of six statistical tests resulted in statistically significant results, overall, it appears that restaurants with a higher star rating have lower number of CVs and lower average hazard scores. Even though this ideal relationship was established, the importance of safe food handling practices and serving safe food to the public should not be overlooked. Consumer-generated restaurant review websites are an excellent avenue to promote food safety within the overall culture of dining-out at restaurants.

Consumer Interest and Preferred Formats for Disclosure of Restaurant Inspection Results, Minnesota 2019

In recent years, numerous state and local health departments have developed systems to disclose restaurant inspection results to consumers. Public disclosure of restaurant inspection results can reduce transmission of foodborne illness by driving improvements in sanitary conditions. In Minnesota, restaurant inspection results are not readily accessible for consumers to use to make decisions about where to eat. The objective of this study was to assess the consumer interest among Minnesota adults in having better access to restaurant inspection results and to identify preferred formats for disseminating this information. We conducted a survey among 1,188 Minnesota residents aged 18 years or older at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair. Overall, 94.4% of respondents wanted better access to restaurants' inspection information. More than three-quarters (77.1%) of respondents stated that they would use this information to decide where to eat. Respondents wanted to see inspection results online (71.6%) and at restaurants (62.1%). Increasing public access to inspection results could reinforce efforts by public health agencies and food service operators to improve the safety of foods prepared away from home.

Mandatory disclosure, letter-grade systems, and corruption: The case of Los Angeles County restaurant inspections

During unannounced hygiene inspections, Los Angeles (LA) County restaurants receive numeric scores out of 100 points. In their windows, they must post letter grades revealing broad intervals to which their scores belong. Relative to numeric-score disclosure, this system creates strong incentives for score manipulation below letter-grade thresholds. Using LA County restaurant inspections spanning 2014–2016, I test for manipulation by exploiting a feature of the county’s scoring criteria. While most health code violations carry a single prescribed 1, 2, or 4-point deduction; there are eleven violations where, depending on severity, 2 or 4 points may be deducted. Even when compared with inspections exhibiting better hygiene quality, restaurants on the margins of higher letter grades are 28–40% more likely to receive the lesser deduction on these violations, and the effect is significant across all eleven violation types. Score manipulation likely improved letter grades in 27% of inspections where deduction decisions had letter-grade implications. In regulated industries—beyond distorting producer incentives—seemingly minor disclosure-policy design features can unintentionally promote regulatory capture.

Identification of critical factors for assessing the quality of restaurants using data mining approaches

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to apply state-of-the-art machine learning techniques for assessing the quality of the restaurants using restaurant inspection data. The machine learning techniques are applied to solve the real-world problems in all sphere of life. Health and food departments pay regular visits to restaurants for inspection and mark the condition of the restaurant on the basis of the inspection. These inspections consider many factors that determine the condition of the restaurants and make it possible for the authorities to classify the restaurants.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, standard machine learning techniques, support vector machines, naïve Bayes and random forest classifiers are applied to classify the critical level of the restaurants on the basis of features identified during the inspection. The importance of different factors of inspection is determined by using feature selection through the help of the minimum-redundancy-maximum-relevance and linear vector quantization feature importance methods.FindingsThe experiments are accomplished on the real-world New York City restaurant inspection data set that contains diverse inspection features. The results show that the nonlinear support vector machine achieves better accuracy than other techniques. Moreover, this research study investigates the importance of different factors of restaurant inspection and finds that inspection score and grade are significant features. The performance of the classifiers is measured by using the standard performance evaluation measures of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity.Originality/valueThis research uses a real-world data set of restaurant inspection that has, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, never been used previously by researchers. The findings are helpful in identifying the best restaurants and help finding the factors that are considered important in restaurant inspection. The results are also important in identifying possible biases in restaurant inspections by the authorities.