THUNDER BAY -- Kitchen cleanliness could take local restaurant competition to the next level.
City council voted unanimously to adopt a new system for food health inspection on Monday, whereby all premises serving food will be legally required to display colour-coded letter grades in their entrance and pick-up windows to reflect their last food inspection.
Thunder Bay District Health Unit inspectors will begin with a 100 baseline score and subtract wherever they find unsatisfactory conditions from a list of 44 infractions.
Restaurants scoring between 90 and 100 will receive an 'A' letter grade and a green colour code. Those scoring between 75 and 89 will also post green signs along with a 'B' grade. A yellow card and a 'C' wil be posted in the windows of establishments scoring between 60 and 74 and a 'D' score will appear for those who scored between 50 and 60.
The number score will not be visible but health unit will enforce the lettered and coloured score cards remain visible for three months until the next inspection.
"They start to compete with one another in order to get the best food safety score they can and that's really to the benefit of all citizens," said Lee Sieswerda, the health unit's manager of environmental health.
"They're already competing on atmosphere, quality of the food and taste and everything else. Why not compete on food safety as well?"
Sieswerda said only a handful of citizens have ever inquired about local food inspections but other health units who have used the system have found food service industry infractions cut in half.
Some health unit jurisdictions have developed crowns for their signs to reward those companies that are succeeding at the 'A' level. By Thunder Bay's proposed system, an 'A' would allow for no more than two minor infractions.
"Low-risk" establishments such as convenience stores will face one inspection annually. Coffee shops and similar food services with minimal preparation on site will be checked upon twice a year and health unit officials will visit restaurants and food trucks three times every year.
Health unit staff have not decided how to best address catering businesses, however, as many of them operate in private residences.
Some councilors were enthusiastic about the change.
"In a lot of ways, this will end the rumour mills out there that do nothing but undermine safe establishments because somebody thought they heard something," Coun. Iain Angus.
Bylaw changes that would allow for the food inspection score card system will appear before council on Nov. 28 for ratification. If it passes, Sieswerda believes his staff could have the system operating by February of 2017.
