Is this place a diner or a dive?
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Click here to see the Rock County Health Department food facility inspection information.
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Line server Andrew Hyde checks the temperature of items at the Hometown Buffet salad bar in Janesville on Wednesday. Workers take temperature readings about 100 times a day at the restaurant.
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Hyde measures the temperature of food on the buffet line. Hot items at the restaurant are supposed to be above 140 degrees, while cold items are supposed to be below 40 degrees.
JANESVILLE — Nobody wants to know how the sausage is made.
We just want it to arrive on our plates, well-cooked and accompanied by pancakes and two sunny-side-up eggs.
Now, consumers have a chance to peek into the kitchens where their food is prepared.
This week, the Rock County Health Department announced that information from its annual inspections of food establishments is available on its website.
"We wanted our program to be transparent to the public," said Tim Banwell, environmental health director for the health department. "People are concerned about food borne illnesses."
Other counties have put their inspection reports online, too.
Users can search for their favorite restaurant, school and grocery store. Each listing shows the date of inspection, the number of critical and non-critical violations and whether the facility is in compliance.
Previously, anyone who wanted to see a restaurant inspection report had to file an open records request.
The decision to post results online came after more than a year of discussions among health department officials, a citizens group, representatives from restaurants and the Rock County Tavern League, Banwell said
Banwell and other officials wanted more transparency, but they also wanted to be fair to restaurants and other food facilities. For example, the department decided not to post scores online.
"If you're a gas station that's just selling frozen pizza, you really have to screw up to get a score below 90," Banwell said.
But if you're a large grocery store with a deli, bakery, meat counter and thousands of refrigerated and frozen produces, a score somewhere in the 80s would be more probable.
It's not that officials want to give larger organizations a pass. Rather, they want the public to see scores and other ratings in context, Banwell said.
Even the information that's posted needs to be taken with a grain of salt—pun intended.
Here's what Banwell said consumers should consider:
-- The difference between critical and non-critical violations.
Non-critical items are associated with cleaning and maintenance that are important but unlikely to result in a food borne illness.
Critical items include poor hand washing practices, temperature violations such as leaving perishable food out for too long, poor food-handling practices, not sterilizing equipment or storing items such as raw meat where it could contaminate fresh vegetables.
-- Perfection doesn't exist.
"You're not going to find a perfect restaurant," Banwell said.
One of the best restaurants out there, in terms of inspections, is Hometown Buffet, formerly Old County Buffet, in Janesville. Staff keep temperature logs of all the buffet items, and the business has a culture of cleanliness.
Even so, the restaurant's September 2010 inspection included eight non-critical violations.
-- Homemade is harder.
Chain restaurants such as McDonald's tend to fare better on restaurant inspections.
First, the company has a well-established training program for new hires.
Second, and more important, the company has decreased the risks of food borne illness by preparing much of the food in advance.
"Nobody's forming hamburger patties with their hands," Banwell said.
Even some salads are shipped in ready-made.
When everything is made from scratch, storage and preparation of food can be more of an issue.
-- Critical can be fixed.
Critical violations can be one-time issues. For example, if an inspector finds an unmarked spray bottle of liquid, the restaurant receives a critical violation even if an employee immediately labels it as "glass cleaner" or "salad dressing."
If a dishwasher is broken, it's a critical violation even if repairs are made within the hour.
In other words, a consumer will not be able to tell if the infraction is part of an ongoing problem or was a one-time issue.
"There's a story behind every high-risk violation," Banwell said. "Most of the time they're just accidents."
In the next year or two, the information online might change.
For example, a critical violation listing might come with brief explanations, such as "dishwasher broken, fixed the next day" or "cut chicken left on counter overnight."
That would allow consumers to make a judgment about the seriousness of a violation. And as time goes on, diners will be able to see restaurants' inspection histories.
"What we have online now is just a foot in the door, and it's a change for our community," Banwell said.
When the health department does make changes, it plans to engage members of the public and restaurant owners.
Feb 7, 2012 at 10:09 a.m.
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"'There's a story behind every high-risk violation,' Banwell said."
A "story," huh? But not one you'll find in any Gazette article on the subject, or even on-line at the health department site! Sadly, neither the Gazette story nor the health department website link provide much usable information on which consumers might base their patronage decisions.
Looks like the only way a consumer might get real information is to request individual inspection reports for a particular restaurant - and then who knows what might be documented.
In this day and age, that's a decidedly poor system for something deemed as important as food safety. A lot of smoke and mirrors that still seems designed to protect restaurants and business more than the public!
Feb 3, 2012 at 12:11 p.m.
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You can have the complete inspection report mailed to you free from the site.
Feb 3, 2012 at 10:11 a.m.
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Not sure why the Gazette didn't post the link, but I'll do the work for them!
http://www.co.rock.wi.us/search-food-fac...
Feb 3, 2012 at 9:37 a.m.
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I miss the hoffman house. Its always nice when your server brings you a salad and they're holding it with some of their fingers in salad.
Feb 3, 2012 at 8:46 a.m.
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I was at the Jvl Arbys a few years back there was a disable girl cleaning the tops of the Ketsup jars ---- thats right -- with her tongue -- licking the ketsup off and putting the tops back on.
Last time I have eaten at any Arbys -- just cannot get the picture out of my mind. Not that its doesnt happen elsewhere -- but just looking at an Arbys sign makes me cringe.
Feb 3, 2012 at 8:34 a.m.
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5-second rule
Feb 3, 2012 at 8:13 a.m.
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I worked in restaurants for about 15 years and have seen nasty stuff that isn't even seen during an inspection. For example cook seperating plastic ramkin cups for a serving of dressing or something with his TEETH.
I am surprized I still go out to eat ! )
I was at a restaurant once and waitress/manager(what a joke) gave me a smaller salad that I asked for snd she said "I will only give you a handful" and then reminded me when she brought it to the table "only a HANDFUL" I am sure she didn't wash hands or wear gloves. YUK.
What would be fun is for them to come into our own homes !P
I know of a place they NEVER take the cutting board off and wash them and have rags to hold them in place. They should be washed daily if not twice a day. Some use the same rag over and over and never rince it in the bucket of bleach water that should be changed MANY times a day. These may not be "critical" still is gross!
Feb 3, 2012 at 7:24 a.m.
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I fear you maybe right Sarah.
Feb 3, 2012 at 6:22 a.m.
Feb 3, 2012 at 6:04 a.m.
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Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, your aptitude for ineptitude is astonishing!
Feb 2, 2012 at 9:55 p.m.
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Oh yeah, I'm related to the guy who published http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Eat-Out-offic...
Feb 2, 2012 at 9:35 p.m.
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What's amusing is I lived for a year in Evansville, Indiana years ago. The peoplr there are mostly backwards, sorta right wing, sorta Deliverance, "you aren't from here" sorta place. Way worse than Janesville. They celebrated eating cow brains like Wisconsin eats brats. But guess what? They published every week in the paper, which places broke the rules in little ways, and which had cockroaches and mice.
Feb 2, 2012 at 9:24 p.m.
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It would be nice to click on the items to see what they were cited for. They must be hiding something pretty bad. Might be time to eat at home.
Feb 2, 2012 at 9:17 p.m.
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Even tho you may receive 10-15 non criticals, this is not enough to make you think you should not eat there. Non-criticals in my establishment was the faucet not running for 15 seconds after you push the handle down in the bathroom. Missing a handwashing sign is another one. Storing a sealed box of cofee under a ceiling that did not have a drop ceiling. Odd things like that, that don't really affect your health but could lead to poor practices by the restaurant if ignored. Critical would be food coolers at 50 degrees, etc. I like the fact that my restaurant is listed and any errors posted. I take pride in the fact that I score high over and over.
Feb 2, 2012 at 9:07 p.m.
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I think the full inspection report should be posted. While better than nothing, what's showing now is not very informative.
Feb 2, 2012 at 9:03 p.m.
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ImBack, the EPA has nothing to do with this topic. Health departments have been doing inspections for generations, thankfully. Health inspections are mandated by the state. The County Board has no control over inspections.
Feb 2, 2012 at 8:17 p.m.
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I think they forgot to report on the third classification of infraction - "nit-picky".
Feb 2, 2012 at 7:41 p.m.
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on the left of article under "more information " is where you click to find rock county food inspections.
Feb 2, 2012 at 7:27 p.m.
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Hongkong, I asked that copo's comment be removed, but perhaps your response was better suited (especially since it wasn't removed).
Feb 2, 2012 at 7:21 p.m.
Feb 2, 2012 at 7:16 p.m.
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Average of non-critical seems to be 10-15.
Thats enough to make anybody sick I think.
Ave for critical was 0-2
interesting.
Feb 2, 2012 at 7:06 p.m.
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okay- I see it. Not much to go on at all.
Feb 2, 2012 at 6:14 p.m.
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A step in the right direction for our county!
While most of us just assume that the food being given to us is safe and prepared correctly, its nice to know that someone is making sure they are actually doing it right.
This should actually make the restaurants more receptive to the public since they know this is available to view.
I just got done eating out and its nice to know the place I went to has a nice history with only non-critical violations.
Two thumbs up for more transparency and nice to hear they intend to include more details in the future.
Feb 2, 2012 at 6:10 p.m.
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Am I missing it or WHERE is the site??
Country Buffett- don't care to watch thanks.
Imback- a comma also!
"department officials, a citizens group, representatives from restaurants and the Rock County Tavern League, Banwell said""
between rest /and /and.
Feb 2, 2012 at 5:35 p.m.
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They really don't tell you much.
Date: 01/12/2012
Inspection Type: Routine 1
Status Meets: Standard
Critical Items: 1
Non-Critical Items: 15
Feb 2, 2012 at 4:48 p.m.
Feb 2, 2012 at 4:26 p.m.
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Gee, I bet if they weren't a potential source of advertising income this article might actually include some open records FACTS about local restaurants so that consumers could make informed choices about their health and food.
Wishful thinking, I know! The Gazette has danced around this issue for years - they have no problem publishing the speeding ticket my neighbor just got but print absolutely nothing of consequence about something as important as restaurant health department inspection results!
Feb 2, 2012 at 4:11 p.m.
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Isn't this just more government regulation? I propose that if you eat at restaurant and you get sick, you probably shouldn't go back. Of course you or your loved ones may die from food poisoning, but you'll die knowing you were free from the "tyranny" of government. Sounds like a plan to me.
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