TMCnet News
Restaurant inspections now online: Web address(Tulsa World (OK) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 9--Consumers are now only a few mouse clicks away from finding out how their favorite eatery fared during its most recent restaurant inspection. The Tulsa City-County Health Department recently digitized its restaurant inspections and made the records available through its Web site. Some local restaurant owners have reservations about the new site, but health department officials believe the searchable, Web-based database is a great service to the public. Each year, sanitarians, also known as health inspectors, for the Tulsa Health Department's Consumer Protection Division, complete more than 12,000 inspections at the approximately 3,500 restaurants in Tulsa County, said Debbie Watts, field supervisor. Depending on the type of food products served and the number of customers, restaurants normally are inspected two to four times each year, Watts said. Copies of restaurant inspection results are public record, but before the Web site was launched, consumers had to request documents in person during business hours, said spokeswoman Melanie Christian. "This is much more user-friendly," she said. The Web site makes 18 months of inspections available and is updated monthly. When consumers search for a restaurant, they should keep in mind that the inspections are a "snapshot in time," Watts said. Watts said "to think about your own home at any one point in time when company stops by." The unexpected guests would find different levels of cleanliness, depending on when they arrived, she said. The online inspection records show when the inspection occurred, what problems were found and what actions the health inspector took. Problems could be as minor as a lack of towels in a rest-room or as serious as food kept at incorrect temperatures, Watts said. Mark Howard, owner of Cardigan's at 6000 S. Lewis Ave., said he believes that health inspectors play a vital role in the restaurant industry, but he hopes consumers will read the inspections in the correct context. "The health department will always find something," Howard said. Just because a restaurant is cited with a violation does not mean the kitchen is unsafe, he said. Many violations are corrected while the health inspector is still on site, said Louie Rios, owner of the Snooty Fox at 5209 S. Sheridan Road. "The Web site is a little bit unfair, but I think the public has a right to know about where they go and what they consume," Rios said. Howard said he prides himself in keeping a clean kitchen, but he understands how some restaurant owners let cleanliness slide. "Kitchens get dirty because it is expensive to clean them -- it takes a lot of man-hours," he said. Foodborne infections cause 76 million illnesses and 5,200 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Health Department's Web site. For example, if a pot of soup is not kept at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, pathogens can grow more rapidly, posing a potential health risk, Watts said. Consumers can use the Web site to file complaints about conditions found at restaurants throughout Tulsa County. Nicole Nascenzi 581-8315 [email protected] |