Food safety is a mixture of carrots and sticks, but is the stick alone cleaning up Denver restaurants?

The Denver Post reports that food-safety violations at Denver restaurants have dropped sharply, and fines have soared under a controversial change in the way Denver regulates its dining establishments.

The number of critical violations that could lead to food poisoning has fallen 43 percent since the policy was implemented last year.

Restaurant owners are hopping mad over the fines they're paying, even as Denver regulators laud the policy's effectiveness.

"It looks like it's working," said Doug Linkhart, manager of the Denver Department of Environmental Health. "We are very excited about that trend."

Since the new system took effect Jan. 1, 2011, critical violations have dropped from a peak of 3,267 in the second quarter of 2011 to 1,847 in the second quarter of 2012. Expressed in a different measure, the number of critical violations per inspection has fallen from 1.7 to 1.

However, the restaurant industry says the switch is a financial burden on owners and is unfairly enforced.

Owners initially supported the shift to higher fines in place of the unpopular previous policy that required restaurants to post notices of critical violations. Now their tone has changed after seeing that fine collections soared from $118,995 in 2010 to $731,900 in 2011.

"We don't agree with the penalty system anymore," said Pete Meersman, president and chief executive of the Colorado Restaurant Association. "The fines are too high and too frequent, and there is rapidly growing animosity between restaurant operators and health inspectors."

Until last year, the health department used a system in which restaurants with a pattern of critical violations were required to post a notice of the violations for 30 days. Critical violations include leaving foods at temperatures that promote bacterial growth or poor hygienic practices by workers.

Restaurateurs hated the posting procedure because in most cases the violations were corrected before the notices were posted. The result was that patrons would be scared away by problems that no longer existed, industry officials said.

Restaurants called for a change. They negotiated for 18 months with Denver officials, eventually agreeing to the new system that allows the city to impose a fine of $250 if the same critical violation is found twice in a 12-month period. The fine rises to $500 for third or subsequent violations. Unchanged is the health department's ability to issue a $2,000 fine or close an establishment for an imminent public health risk.

Sales of magical bacteria-vision goggles remain stagnant.

Because they don’t exist.

Time magazine (is it still printed?) breathlessly praises the open kitchen trend as a response to Big Food and fast food horror stories.

A check of any local restaurant inspection results will show that dangerous microorganisms can fester with bad practices at the fanciest and dumpiest places; they’re equal opportunity pathogens.

For maximum transparency, restaurants ranging from fast-casual superstar Chipotle, to indie eateries favored by foodies, to massive fast-food chains like Domino’s are all turning to the open kitchen.

The problem is, an open kitchen doesn’t tell me, the consumer, whether the cooks washed their hands after having a dump, whether the food is being kept at proper hot or cold temperatures, whether a thermometer was used to verify a safe temperature had been reached, and, most importantly, where all those ingredients being assembled into a meal came from. Does the groovy Chipotle source lettuce from growers who have exemplary food safety programs or do they get it from where they get it.

An open kitchen may make people feel better, but does nothing to answer questions about microbial food safety.

I’m still learning to speak Australian, so I’m not sure what the registered clubs lobby is, although I’m guessing it’s not something out of The Flintstones. Maybe it’s like the volunteer firefighters in Bedrock (everything’s made of stone).

The Canberra Times reports the registered clubs lobby has softened its opposition to a mandatory food safety ''scores on doors'' scheme for food outlets and called for a voluntary trial of the scheme.

The ACT government and the Greens have both promised to introduce government scores on doors, or star ratings scheme after the October 20 territory election.

Under the scheme, restaurants would have to prominently display government-issued hygiene ratings.

ClubsACT chief executive Jeff House yesterday contacted the government and suggested that as a compromise a six month trial be conducted of the hygiene-rating system.

''It's much better as a matter of principle to trial something before you implement it, particularly when it hasn't been done here before,'' Mr House said.

Mr. House and others in Canberra, here’s some background.

Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2009. The use of restaurant inspection disclosure systems as a means of communicating food safety information. Journal of Foodservice 20: 287-297.


The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from food or water each year. Up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food prepared at foodservice establishments. Consumer confidence in the safety of food prepared in restaurants is fragile, varying significantly from year to year, with many consumers attributing foodborne illness to foodservice. One of the key drivers of restaurant choice is consumer perception of the hygiene of a restaurant. Restaurant hygiene information is something consumers desire, and when available, may use to make dining decisions.

Filion, K. and Powell, D.A. 2011. Designing a national restaurant inspection disclosure system for New Zealand
. 
Journal of Food Protection 74(11): 1869-1874
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2011/00000074/00000011/art00010



The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of individuals in developed countries become ill from contaminated food or water each year, and up to 70% of these illnesses are estimated to be linked to food service facilities. The aim of restaurant inspections is to reduce foodborne outbreaks and enhance consumer confidence in food service. Inspection disclosure systems have been developed as tools for consumers and incentives for food service operators. Disclosure systems are common in developed countries but are inconsistently used, possibly because previous research has not determined the best format for disclosing inspection results. This study was conducted to develop a consistent, compelling, and trusted inspection disclosure system for New Zealand. Existing international and national disclosure systems were evaluated. Two cards, a letter grade (A, B, C, or F) and a gauge (speedometer style), were designed to represent a restaurant's inspection result and were provided to 371 premises in six districts for 3 months. Operators (n = 269) and consumers (n = 991) were interviewed to determine which card design best communicated inspection results. Less than half of the consumers noticed cards before entering the premises; these data indicated that the letter attracted more initial attention (78%) than the gauge (45%). Fifty-eight percent (38) of the operators with the gauge preferred the letter; and 79% (47) of the operators with letter preferred the letter. Eighty-eight percent (133) of the consumers in gauge districts preferred the letter, and 72% (161) of those in letter districts preferring the letter. Based on these data, the letter method was recommended for a national disclosure system for New Zealand.

Eight months after rotting bear meat was discovered in a freezer at the Mandarin Palace Restaurant in Fredericton, New Brunswick (that’s in Canada), the owner has been fined $400 in court.

CBC News reports that Le Binh Tina Tu, 61, who owns the Mandarin Palace, pleaded guilty to charges after the bear meat was discovered in a cooler at the Chinese restaurant during a routine inspection by the Department of Health on Dec. 20, 2011.

An inspection record posted on the government's website on Dec. 21 said, "Food must be purchased from an approved source. Wild animals are not approved."