Grading the Restaurants

In New Jersey, there are regular health inspections of eateries and there is a very public grading formula. Inspection results are published in state newspapers, including the Record. The grades are as follows:

The ratings explained: Conditional -- first violation of the state Sanitary Code. Conditional on reinspection -- second violation. Satisfactory on reinspection -- violation repaired. Unsatisfactory -- gross violations that are an imminent threat to public health. An unsatisfactory establishment should be shut down either voluntarily or through a court order.

. The state sanitary health code (8:24-10.8) covers the same kind of ground as the New York code, but it requires that the inspection results be publicly displayed.

This is more than sufficient to deal with violations. Restaurants and eateries are required to post the inspection results publicly (usually in their front windows or other similarly open area).

New York may eventually catch up to New Jersey in this respect. There's a proposal to grade the health inspections and to require that the inspection reports be placed in visible location.

Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) revealed the city's top 10 filthiest restaurants yesterday - and appealed to the city Health Department to rate restaurants' cleanliness with letter grades from A to F that are visible to the public.

"I don't think the system we have in place is sufficient," said Klein as he stood outside what he called the city's grimiest eatery, Café La Fonduta, on E. 57th St. "What we need is a grading system."

The Health Department slapped Café La Fonduta - a two-story, moderately priced Italian eatery - with 14 violations, including evidence that rodents may have had the run of the place.

"I'm really shocked. I have trouble believing it," said Katherine Prince, 63, who orders Caesar salad at the restaurant three times a week. "It's the best around."

The owner of Café La Fonduta could not be reached for comment.

A failing grade under the current system occurs when a restaurant receives 28 or more violation points. Café La Fonduta racked up 160.

The Health Department, which does not rank restaurants according to cleanliness, argued that a letter-grading system would not reflect long-term conditions at restaurants.

I don't think that the letter grading system is necessary - but the public display of inspection results that shows the last time the facility was inspected is. The public display will inform patrons of the sanitary conditions without having to go online to search for the restaurant. The need to publicly display the results of inspections must also be followed by more frequent inspections to ensure that sanitary conditions are maintained.

UPDATE:
The New York Post makes an interesting observation about the recent crackdown on restaurants for health code violations:

The Health Department insists none of the 90-plus closures relate to the Taco Bell-rat debacle.

(But it would, wouldn't it?)

Instead, the department insists, it is simply enforcing rules it had no role in creating - much like the policeman who tickets each jaywalker he sees.

That's disquieting, because the closure rate since the appears to roughly three times pre-Taco Bell levels - up to nine a day compared to three a day or fewer before the incident.

There are a couple of possibilities here.

The department is in fact thrashing about in embarrassment, shutting down restaurants that don't deserve it.

Or the inspectors simply weren't doing their jobs properly before the Taco Bell rat riot.

These are no minor matters - given the department's distressingly long history of corrupt restaurant-inspection practices.

Was the Health Department doing its job before the crackdown or are they now going overboard to rectify a bad situation and bad publicity? Either way, it doesn't look good for Frieden, who has championed the food police efforts to change eating habits. Sorry, but I'm more concerned about whether restaurants are sanitary than wondering which kind of oil is being used in the cooking. Somewhere along the lines, the Health Department got its priorities all wrong, and the rat incident very publicly exposed the problem.