Deseret Morning News graphic  Salt Lake County eatery inspections(1.4 MB .pdf file) |
| Deseret Morning News graphic Utah County eatery inspections(600 KB .pdf file) |
Inspectors say most local eateries work hard to follow health department rules, but some struggle. Among those that struggle the most is Cafe Kim in West Jordan.
Health inspectors closed it twice for serious violations during the past two years, for a total of 11 days — the longest stretch for any local restaurant. During inspections, it also amassed four times more violation points on average than a typical full-service restaurant, the worst in Salt Lake County.
Inspectors found 160 code violations there, including 25 considered "critical" — or most likely to cause food-borne illness if not fixed quickly. The violations ranged from dirty food-preparation surfaces to touching ready-to-serve food with bare hands, storing toxic materials near food and not keeping hot foods hot enough nor cold foods cold enough.
Cafe Kim did not respond to a hand-delivered letter seeking comment.
How do other local eateries rate?
Area residents usually don't know, because health departments will release such data only if someone files a formal request through state open-records laws. The requester must then pay up to $50 per hour (in Utah County) for workers to process that request, plus copying fees.
The Deseret Morning News went through that process to obtain inspection data on 5,000 eateries in Salt Lake and Utah counties, and today posts average scores for each of them online by clicking on the PDF links above.
(Davis County has not computerized its inspection records, so it was not included. However, that county is planning to put inspection results online itself later this year and has hired a contractor to scan its paper reports to make such data available.)
The Morning News used such data to identify eateries with the best scores and the worst; to show how fast-food chains compare; to show how various types of ethnic food restaurants compare; and to show how different types of eateries — from schools to nursing homes, full-service cafes and buffets — score on average.
Inspector crunch
It also found that officials in both Salt Lake and Utah counties do not inspect eateries as often as mandated by state law. Both blame tight budgets that they say do not allow hiring enough inspectors. That means some eateries rarely saw an inspector over the two years.
Warnings and caveats
Health departments worry inspection results could be misinterpreted. So, some explanation is needed to help residents know what they can fairly compare and conclude — and what they should not.
First, Salt Lake and Utah counties use different systems and values for assigning points to violations. So it is not possible to compare point scores fairly between the two. But in both, serious violations earn more points. Also, higher scores mean more violations, or more serious ones, were found.
Next, inspectors warn that establishments of the same type — say, full-service restaurants — should be compared only against each other. They should not be compared to other types that have much different operations, such as a snow-cone stand that has relatively little that could pose a health threat.
"For example, let's say a movie theater snack bar gets a score of 8 or 9 points. For most places, that would be a good score. But for a theater, it's bad," said Jay Stone, food program manager for the Utah County Health Department.
Royal Delegge, Environmental Health Division director for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, said, "The more complicated a menu and the more complicated the processes that a restaurant uses, the higher the scores they tend to have. They have more that can go wrong."
Accompanying charts show average scores for different types of eateries, to allow readers to compare individual establishments to averages.
The good ...
Of the 1,800 full-service, fast-food and buffet restaurants inspected in Salt Lake County in the past two years, only one had perfect scores in all inspections: Gold Medal Pizza in Fort Union. It is a fairly new business that had just one regular, surprise inspection in that time.
"We work hard to keep it clean. I think that is important for business. I don't like to go to places that I believe are dirty," said co-owner John Horn.
"I have a list of things that must be cleaned every day, and employees do it every night. If it isn't done, the employee is written up. If they are written up three times, they are fired. So we take it seriously," he said.
Also earning perfect scores in all inspections in Salt Lake County were two assisted-living centers; two caterers, three child-care centers, a coffee bar, two commissaries for mobile food units; five convenience stores; one correctional center, three delicatessens, three hotel breakfast operations, two mobile food carts, one private club, two schools; nine snack bars and seven snow-cone stands.
In Utah County, 17 full-service and fast-food restaurants had perfect scores in all inspections, according to records (see chart).
Among other types of eateries with all-perfect inspections in Utah County were one assisted-living center, one cafeteria, one caterer, four child-care centers, one convenience store, one group home, four mobile units, 21 schools, 10 seasonal units (such as snow-cone stands), seven snack bars and one tavern.
The not-so-good ...
Sixteen full-service, fast-food and buffet restaurants in Salt Lake County were closed temporarily by health inspectors in the past two years. Some were closed for just a few hours and some for days (see chart).
Samba Grill in Salt Lake City and Cafe Kim and Eastern Buffet in West Jordan were each closed twice for what inspectors said were numerous, serious violations that posed an imminent health threat.
Many of the ordered-to-be-closed restaurants also had the highest averages for violation points in the county's regular, surprise inspections.
As mentioned, Cafe Kim had the highest average for full-service restaurants that are still in business: 159.5 points per inspection, four times higher than the 39.1 point average for full-service restaurants in that county.
(Two now-out-of-business, full-service restaurants actually had higher averages: Golden Dragon, 170 points, and Lo-Fi Cafe, 167 points. Twenty full-service, buffet and fast-food restaurants averaged more than 100 points per inspection.)
One buffet had even worse inspection scores. Crazy Buffet in West Valley City — which was closed once for a day by health inspectors in the period — had an average of 259 violation points per regular inspection. That is eight times higher than the 31.7 point average for all buffets and cafeterias in Salt Lake County.
Crazy Buffet did not respond to a hand-delivered letter seeking response.
Maybe the biggest surprise in the data is that the upscale, highly awarded Tuscany Restaurant in Holladay — which is rated among the top restaurants in the county by most reviewers — had the third-highest average violation point total among still-open, full-service restaurants in the county.
Its average was 108.7 points, or nearly three times higher than average for full-service restaurants — which could be troublesome for a restaurant where entrees cost up to $26.
Co-owner Mark Eaton, the former Utah Jazz star, said it quickly fixes all problems found and that most violations identified by inspectors were relatively minor. But of the 172 violations that inspectors listed in three inspections, 14 were deemed "critical," or considered a high threat to cause illness unless corrected quickly.
Eaton said publishing such information can be misleading. "The inspection process is premised upon subjectivity," he said. "In some cases an inspector may be lenient, and in other cases strict." (However, Delegge said inspectors receive the same training and use the same checklists.)
Eaton adds, "Reporting scores without providing analysis of business volume, numbers of meals, square footage, cooking and preparation space, variation in types of food served, etc., misleads the public."
His concerns are echoed by John Nikols, owner of Coachman's Dinner & Pancake House in Salt Lake City — which finished right behind Eaton's Tuscany with an average of 108.3 violation points per inspection.
"I have never once had even one customer come to me and complain that they have gotten sick at my restaurant. Furthermore, my family and I have eaten at Coachman's every day for the past 45 years and never gotten sick," he said. "We are a clean and responsible establishment that would never put our customers at risk. Never."
Among other types of eateries that were ordered closed temporarily by Salt Lake County inspectors in the past two years were 20 food and drink carts, two private clubs, a convenience store, a deli and a snow-cone stand.
Scores for food and drink carts show that even low violation point totals could present serious health threats.
Food and drink carts averaged an at-first-glance low 12.9 points per inspection. But 20 of the 80 carts in the county — a whopping one of every four — were closed at least once by health inspectors during the two years for posing an "imminent threat" to health.
Most were closed for lack of a working sink for workers to wash hands, or for not using a regulated commissary to supply food (and maybe trying to prepare it out of homes instead). "Even one violation is enough to close down a restaurant if it is serious enough," said Ron Lund, food protection supervisor for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
Far fewer eateries were closed in Utah County than in Salt Lake County during 2005-06. In fact, just four were closed temporarily: Doc's Pizza Buffet, 2250 N. University Parkway, Provo; Red Lantern, 175 N. 200 West, Provo; Red's Deli, 701 W. Columbia Lane, Provo; and Trail's End Cafe, 500 S. Main, Spanish Fork.
Stone said his Utah County department does not have data on exactly how long those eateries were closed.
Also, 18 full-service restaurants in Utah County had violation points that were twice the average for such establishments there. Topping the list was China Cafe in Springville. It averaged 62 points per inspection — more than four times the average 14.3 points for the group.
Some other full-service and fast-food restaurants in Utah County with high violation point totals per inspection were Taqueria El Vaquero in Provo, 54 points per inspection; Pizza Factory in Spanish Fork, 42.3; China Town in Provo, 40; and La Tormenta in Provo, 35.5.
Interesting comparisons
The data allow some interesting comparisons. The Morning News, for example, compared some larger fast-food chains.
In Salt Lake County, the fast-food chain with the lowest average violation points were Starbucks (10.1 points), Panda Express (10.9 points) and Burger King (11.5 points).
The chains with the highest average points there were Blimpie's (26.9), Einstein Brothers (26.7); and Kentucky Fried Chicken (25.1). The average for all fast-food restaurants in Salt Lake County was 21.7 points.
In Utah County, the chain with the lowest violation point average was Taco Bell (2.8 points on the different Utah County scale), followed by Arctic Circle (5.6 points) and Wendy's (6.3 points).
At the bottom of that list in Utah County was Gandolfo's (16.1 points), Little Caesars (13.5 points) and Hogi Yogi (12.7 points). The average for all Utah County fast-food restaurants was 10.1 points.
The Morning News also compared scores among ethnic food restaurants with at least 10 stores.
In Salt Lake County, scores (from lowest to highest) were: Hawaiian, 20.9 points; Italian, 23.3; Mexican, 30.9; Greek, 32.2; Japanese, 32.2; Indian, 37.1; Chinese, 39.6; Thai, 40; and Vietnamese, 50.6.
In Utah County, scores on its different point scale were Italian, 10.9 points; Thai, 11.3; Mexican, 12.2; Japanese, 13.7; and Chinese, 15.6.
Lund said he is not surprised that Asian restaurants tended to have the higher scores. Their menus often are extensive and require many different types of foods to be readily available. Keeping them all at proper temperatures and properly protected can be an extra challenge.
Delegge says that doesn't deter him from eating at such restaurants.
"My wife and I enjoy ethnic restaurants, and that's usually where we eat when we go out," he said.
Counting violations
Records obtained from Salt Lake County allow counting exactly how many different types of violations inspectors found. (Utah County, however, did not have such data computerized and was unable to provide it to the Morning News.)
Analysis shows Salt Lake County inspectors found 95,910 violations in 2005 and 2006. Of them, 22,481 were considered "critical" — or most likely to cause illness if not quickly corrected.
They recorded 325 different types of health code violations overall. Some are not appetizing.
For example, they found eight instances of sick employees with "discharges from eyes, nose or mouth" preparing food anyway.
On 283 occasions, they found enough pests, such as bugs or rats, at restaurants for that to be considered a "critical" violation.
At least those findings were relatively rare.
But No. 2 among all violation types found — with 6,067 occurrences — was the "critical" violation of dirty foodcontact surfaces, such as tables, cutting boards, can openers or refrigerators.
Inspectors also recorded 2,275 instances of the "critical" violation of improperly storing food. "That could include such things as storing raw meat products in ways where they could drip on other products, such as lettuce," Lund explained.
They found 1,185 occurrences of the "critical" violation of storing toxic chemicals (such as cleaners) over food or serving equipment.
They found 912 instances of employees handling ready-to-serve food with bare hands. (They are supposed to either wear gloves, or use such things as spatulas and tongs to handle it.)
Some other interesting "critical" violations noted include 129 instances where inspectors saw food contact with soiled items, 64 instances of contaminated food not discarded properly or on time and four instances of employees contaminating food by tasting it (and replacing the utensil used into the food afterward).
By state law, eating establishments should be inspected twice a year (unless a county adopts a "risk-based" priority system, which allows inspecting higher-risk facilities more often and lower-risk facilities less often).
So eating establishments each should have been inspected, on average, about four times total in 2005 and 2006.
Data obtained by the Morning News show they were inspected about three times on average in Salt Lake County, and about 2.5 times in Utah County. (However, those averages are only approximate, because many establishments were not open during the entire two-year period studied.)
Inspectors in both counties acknowledge restaurants are not being inspected as often as called for by law. They blame it on budget shortfalls that do not allow hiring enough inspectors.
"We're about 10 percent below where we should be," Delegge said about Salt Lake County.
He said he has 44 to 47 full-time-equivalent inspectors for the 3,700 food establishments in the county, or about one for every 84 restaurants.
In Utah County, Beebe said he has only four or five full-time-equivalent inspectors for the county's 1,400 food establishments, or about one for every 350 restaurants.
Delegge said when Salt Lake County appears to be falling behind schedule, the food inspection program calls in help from other departments "and we have a blitz to catch up" and ensure no facility goes too long without an inspection.
In Utah County, Beebe said his county has hired some new inspectors, which should help it come closer to the required number of inspections. He said when his department is unable to do all those required, "What we might let slide (for a time) is a convenience store or something considered a low risk.".
Facing consequences
Restaurants face a variety of consequences for violations. As mentioned, if an imminent health risk is found, an inspector may close it until the problem is fixed. Serious repeated offenses could lead to a suspension of its license.
If several "critical" problems are found, the health departments can also require subsequent reinspections. Food establishments are charged $100 for reinspections in Salt Lake County, and $80 in Utah County.
Administrators in both counties say they try to balance being both an educator for restaurant operators and, essentially, the health police.
Delegge said in Salt Lake County, "We have a strong belief here that any regulatory program works well with two strong legs: education and enforcement. Either one of them being weak is not productive.
"People have to have the opportunity to understand what it is we are requiring them to do without a hammer on them. But at the same time, they need an incentive to become educated and implement what we teach."
Beebe said the philosophy in Utah County is, "We try to accomplish as much as we can through education and use enforcement as a tool of last resort."
One tool that neither county has used much is the threat of bad publicity. For example, Salt Lake County will post the name of eateries that it orders to be closed, but only until they reopen. That Internet posting is then removed.
Many other places nationally routinely post results of all inspections on the Internet or at restaurants themselves with the idea that it provides extra incentive for restaurants to perform well.
The Davis County Board of Health recently ordered Internet postings of all inspection results to begin later this year, apparently the first in Utah.
But that does not happen in Utah and Salt Lake counties. They require formal state open-record law requests for most information. In Salt Lake County, if a resident complains that a restaurant made him sick, he cannot even find out the results of the subsequent investigation without filing an open-records law request. Utah County will give results to complainants but not others without formal open-records law requests.
Beebe said Utah County has been hesitant to move toward Internet listing of inspection results because of the concern "that the public could misinterpret what we put out there. We want to put out something that is fair and understandable."
Delegge said Salt Lake County is moving toward at least considering Internet postings. Toward that end, he said it developed its current informal violation point system (used by the Morning News in its listings) to more fairly prioritize importance of various violations found for possible use by consumers in making comparisons.
Delegge said inspectors plan to discuss the possibility of online listings with an advisory group to the Board of Health, and then with that board itself, later this year.
Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association, says it has concerns about posting inspection results online.
"What will this cost? Is there a good cost-benefit ratio? Have they allowed due process so a restaurant has an opportunity to question if an inspection was made properly? Are they going to require that all inspected facilities have results posted, and not just restaurants?" she asked.
Sine added, "We don't see a huge amount of requests going into health departments regarding health safety," so she questions if a demand exists for online information about inspections.
A final suggestion
The chief inspectors in both counties say people should not be overly concerned about eating at restaurants that have even sometimes high scores. They say they eat out themselves without worry.
"If it's open in the valley, I feel confident that it's a safe place to go," Delegge said.
Beebe in Utah County said, "The industry, for the most part, tries to do a good job. Some make better efforts than others. But no one intentionally fouls up. They know they need to offer a good product at a good price to get people back."
Still, he said despite generally good intentions by restaurant operators, "I'm fairly certain that if we didn't do inspections, they may fall back. I think they do a better job knowing that we might be coming in."
Sine with the restaurant association said, "Food safety is absolutely the number one priority for us."
She adds, "In the Utah restaurant industry, we serve over 2 million meals a day" and said she is not aware of any major occurrence of food-borne illness from it. "I think we do a darn good job of providing good, appetizing food."
Finally, for customers who may worry about sanitation, Delegge and Beebe both have an interesting suggestion that they say is almost always an accurate predictor of cleanliness in unseen areas: Visit the restaurant's bathroom.
"If they're clean, then odds are that the facility has a good sanitation system in place," Delegge said.
Lund adds that more and more restaurants are also preparing food in the sight of customers, which should give them more confidence. "It's a real transition in how they build facilities. You can watch and come to conclusions yourself."
E-mail: lee@desnews.com