As Detroit prepares to require restaurants to post food safety compliance ratings under a new city ordinance, the city Health Department wants to remind business owners of health and hygiene rules to prevent violations and illnesses.
Health department inspectors, along with Public Health Director Denise Fair Razo and City Councilman Scott Benson, showed reporters Wednesday how the city is conducting food safety inspections at three restaurants: Burger Truck, Jolly Pumpkin and Grey Ghost. The city currently has 15 inspectors and plans to hire two more. Starting Oct. 1, restaurant owners will be required to display signs showing their compliance.
“We are the first city in Michigan to offer this program to restaurant and food truck owners, and we are highlighting this food inspection process today to raise awareness of food safety,” Fair Razo said. In addition to inspections, the department will also be “ensuring that food licenses are properly displayed so residents can have confidence when they visit a local eatery that it is a safe place to dine.”
Most Common Issues in Restaurant Inspections
Fair Razo said the police department is “adequately staffed” and the new law will not burden the department.
“That’s something we’re already doing. We’re testing regularly,” Fair Razo said. “This allows us to hold restaurant owners and food truck owners accountable.”
Sebrina Johnson, an environmental health specialist and inspections supervisor, said the city inspects 2,000 restaurants and licensed food trucks twice a year. Johnson, who has been with the department for 24 years, said some of the most common issues include a lack of hot or cold running water, an issue she sees mostly with food trucks during the winter.
“Restaurants may have equipment issues or issues that aren’t fixed so the temperature is low or not adjusted properly, so we have to let them know about the problem and get it fixed,” Johnson said.
The City Council passed a “Dine with Safe” ordinance this month, requiring restaurants to post green or red color-coded signs and QR codes that direct customers to the Detroit Health Department’s website, where they can find the latest inspection reports for the city’s restaurants.
Benson spearheaded the ordinance with the help of staff member and local food specialist Phil Jones, who compiled a volunteer list of more than 250 restaurants that voluntarily posted green placards indicating compliance, calling it a “win-win for everyone.” Earlier versions of the ordinance were not well received by area residents and city council members.
“At that point, the narrative and urban legend that Black restaurateurs can’t do food safely, that restaurants can’t do it, that people are going to go out of business just died,” Benson said. “At that point, we had a great concept and people embraced it. You can provide safe, healthy food options for people in any neighborhood in the city of Detroit, and you’re actually adding value and increasing your bottom line because people are going to seek you out, so how could you say no?”
This is what restaurant inspectors check for.
Johnson said the city uses five risk factors. Inspectors look for:
Improper or poor personal hygiene. Inappropriate hot and cold temperatures for storing food. The source of the food. Whether equipment is contaminated or unclean. Employee health policies and whether the facility maintains a healthy staff environment.
During a scheduled inspection of the burger truck, Johnson began by washing his hands and testing the water temperature, then tested a number of other items, including whether the food in the freezer was actually frozen, whether the truck’s refrigerator was functioning properly and clean, taking the temperatures of various foods, and overall cleanliness.
Johnson added that inspections for food trucks take an average of 20 minutes, but for restaurants, it can take 30 to 45 minutes.
Jolly Pumpkin chef Matthew Welch said the city conducts unannounced inspections twice a year and conducts two business inspections, and Welch was elated when he received assurances from Environmental Health Specialist Paul Barry on Wednesday that the restaurant passed its inspection.
“I think it’s important for us to have this public awareness about sanitation in our restaurants. I think people should be able to dine in with peace of mind, as it’s written in the policy. We take this very seriously with Mission Management and with each individual restaurant. We expect our employees to conduct themselves professionally,” Welch said. “You can’t do that unless they’re in a professional environment. So it’s my duty to put policies in place to enforce it from top to bottom, not just for safety, but for morale.”
Dana Afana is a Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact her at dafana@freepress.com. Follow her at Dana Afana.
