Some jurisdictions, like the Region of Waterloo in Canada, have websites to disclose restaurant inspection reports to the public. Others, a ‘scores on doors’ approach, like the proposed grade postings in NYC.Restaurant disclosure systems are designed to communicate restaurant inspection information to the public, and to be most effective these methods have to be eye-catching and informative

The news this morning is full of features and editorials seeking to explain the shit storm of Salmonella produced by Peanut Corporation of America.Chapman and I tried to take it a step further and focus on effective, long-term steps to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness from farm-to-fork. At this point in time, promoting food safety culture coupled with marketing and a series of carrots and sticks is the best we can come up with

With at least eight dead, 575 sick and 1,200 products recalled because of Salmonella in peanut thingies, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee began hearings yesterday to figure out the peanut butter solution.Some want jail time for company execs; more inspectors; public oversight of microbial test results; a single food inspection agency; better auditors, and so on

I'm not a fan of focusing on food safety inspections or audits (and neither is Doug).  Sometimes it gets us plunked into the does-not-play-well-with-others category. That's fine.  Here's the deal: After playing hockey with government folks and talking to lots of inspectors I really like them

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Saturday a plan for the city to adopt a public disclosure system for restaurant inspection results, reports the New York Times.  The plan, to be put in place over the next two years, will use a letter-grade system similar to that of L.A. County, in which establishments are required to display an A, B, or C in a visible location (such as a window – see right, Jessica Simpson), to compliment information on the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene website

Last month while visiting friends in Sudbury, Ontario, we ate at East Side Mario’s restaurant – I love the unlimited salad and breadsticks. Though I didn’t have any problems with my meal, a patron who ate lunch at the Lasalle boulevard restaurant Dec. 30 did, and voiced a complaint to the Sudbury District Health Unit, according to the Sudbury Star

Baseball is sooooooooo boring.But I’ll use any metaphor and pop culture reference to get people to pay attention to food safety stuf.Even if it involves baseball.The restaurant inspection disclosure web site in Nova Scotia – that’s in Canada – has been overwhelmed with hits since going on-line

In May 2008, the Baltimore Health Department proposed the Clean Crab award, the image of a meticulous crab, hung perhaps at a restaurant's threshold, to alert people to Baltimore's cleanest dining establishments.Yesterday, health types decided to cleanse themselves of crabs. Instead, the Baltimore Examiner reports, a prize ribbon decal will recognize those with a solid record of sanitation for the Charm City Health Award for Excellence in Sanitation

Maybe I'm cynical about the whole thing, but I don't see overworked meat inspectors being the most important factor leading to the Maple Leaf/Listeria outbreak. I don't know what more inspectors would have done about Listeria living deep inside a slicer.Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union representing food inspectors through the Public Service Alliance of Canada thinks the lack of inspectors and resources is exactly what the problem was -- and he's trumpeting that opinion again today

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Sydney bakery responsible for a food poisoning outbreak that affected 319 people, of whom 136 were admitted to hospital, has been fined more than $40,000 for breaches of the Food Act.The NSW Food Authority closed French Golden Hot Bread, in Homebush West, in March last year after tracing a salmonella outbreak to the egg mayonnaise served with its pork and chicken rolls