The Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health is launching a new website and health inspection protocols, allowing residents to easily check whether where they are eating out passed its most recent inspection with flying colors.
Beginning this month, anyone buying prepared food in Santa Clara County–whether at a full restaurant, a deli, a bakery, or anything in between–will see a placard on the wall with the results of that facility’s last county inspection. The placards will be color-coded, with green for a “pass,” yellow for a “conditional pass” and red for a “failed inspection.”
The system will also see full inspection reports for all food facilities posted on a new county website where residents can find facility scores ranging from a low of 1 to perfect scores of 100.
The website also will list major, moderate and minor violations tallied against a facility, along with the inspector’s field notes from the visit and the resulting numerical inspection score, according to the county.
“Whether you’re grabbing a quick lunch or settling in for a fancy dinner, you want to know that the food was prepared in a kitchen that’s clean and safe,” County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who pushed for the changes, said in a press statement. “Now that information is available online and at the front door.”
A yellow conditional pass usually means there were some major violations that were soon corrected. Customers will likely never see a red placard, as any facility that fails an inspection will be closed until its violations are corrected and a fresh inspection has been completed, according to the county.
Residents, however, will not be seeing the color-coded placards anytime soon. While the most recent inspection results are online, the county still needs to conduct a new round of routine inspections over the next several months. Routine schedules vary, and placards will be issued at each facility’s next inspection.
Because the system is new, scores and inspection results will be coming online over the next several months. Older scores will be retained to give customers a sense of how each restaurant has performed over time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 76 million U.S. cases of food-borne illnesses occur annually, with 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, according to information shared by Simitian’s office.
Other California counties have a grading or placarding system in place, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Alameda counties.
“We are excited to provide this information to the public,” Jim Blamey, director of the county environmental health department, said in a press statement. “The placard will provide the public assurance that the food facility is a safe place to eat, and the website will provide additional details of our inspections.”
The county held workshops in September to give restaurant owners and consumers a chance to learn about the new system. Residents can also take a survey online and share their thoughts on the new system. The public input period will close on Nov. 15.
The survey and most recent food facility inspection results, as well as the list of restaurants that have been closed for food safety violations during the past six months, are available online at sccgov.org/SCCDineOut.
