Spring Break
Inspectors review Rome restaurants
Staff Reports
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: News
Local public health and safety officials have cracked down on restaurant regulations during routine inspections at dining establishments frequented by many of the Shorter College community.
Popular hot-spot eateries for Shorter students have been inspected over the past 4 months and have received fluctuating scores compared to previous inspections.
In January 2008, the North West Georgia Health Department revised the regulations and scoring for the inspections. According to the department's website, the inspections "cover a broad range of topics, such as food protection, temperature control, and cleaning and sanitizing."
The scale is similar to a student's report card with grades like 90 A to 100 A for excellence in food services and 69 U and below as an unsatisfactory failing score.
Grades that receive 80 B through 89 B indicate satisfactory compliance while those at 70 C to 79 C rank at marginal compliance.
Lance Moore, director of Aramark food services and Shorter's dining services, said of the health departments new regulations, "I think that the department is trying to treat the inspections as a learning experience." He continued, "The rules are now a lot stricter. [Restaurants] had to be real bad to get below a 90. Now, that's not the case anymore."
According to Moore, inspectors are deducting more points for common violations. For instance, dented food cans, which were once only worth a one-point violation, has now jumped eight points.
"They count it to be just as serious as a bug in the food," said Moore. "They are not using any discretion anymore. That's more than likely why it is higher."
Moore and Shorter's Aramark establishments, including the Starbucks in the Fitton Student Union, underwent inspection this past Monday and last week Thursday, Feb. 12.
Hanai Bailey, a local inspector from the Floyd County Health Department who evaluated Shorter's dining establishments, said inspections are unannounced and establishments are inspected at random at least twice a year.
Popular hot-spot eateries for Shorter students have been inspected over the past 4 months and have received fluctuating scores compared to previous inspections.
In January 2008, the North West Georgia Health Department revised the regulations and scoring for the inspections. According to the department's website, the inspections "cover a broad range of topics, such as food protection, temperature control, and cleaning and sanitizing."
The scale is similar to a student's report card with grades like 90 A to 100 A for excellence in food services and 69 U and below as an unsatisfactory failing score.
Grades that receive 80 B through 89 B indicate satisfactory compliance while those at 70 C to 79 C rank at marginal compliance.
Lance Moore, director of Aramark food services and Shorter's dining services, said of the health departments new regulations, "I think that the department is trying to treat the inspections as a learning experience." He continued, "The rules are now a lot stricter. [Restaurants] had to be real bad to get below a 90. Now, that's not the case anymore."
According to Moore, inspectors are deducting more points for common violations. For instance, dented food cans, which were once only worth a one-point violation, has now jumped eight points.
"They count it to be just as serious as a bug in the food," said Moore. "They are not using any discretion anymore. That's more than likely why it is higher."
Moore and Shorter's Aramark establishments, including the Starbucks in the Fitton Student Union, underwent inspection this past Monday and last week Thursday, Feb. 12.
Hanai Bailey, a local inspector from the Floyd County Health Department who evaluated Shorter's dining establishments, said inspections are unannounced and establishments are inspected at random at least twice a year.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
M. Morris
posted 2/24/09 @ 5:34 PM EST
I would like to know about scores such as 49 for a local restaurant which was reported very recently in the Rome News Tibune. How do they continue to operate????? What would bring the score to this level and would it be a health hazard for those who are unaware?????
argumentative essay
posted 11/29/09 @ 6:57 AM EST
I think inspections at restaurants are very important to sustain the quality of these dining establishments.
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