Real Dirt on Restaurants

Posted by Cyndi Allison Aug 10, 2008

You may not want to read the recent restaurant study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest before you go out to dinner. The non-profit group reviewed over 500 restaurant review reports across 20 cities and found that 2/3 were cited for food safety violations.

Restaurants problems ranged from food at inappropriate temperatures and unclean work spaces. Thirteen percent of the restaurants checked had documented issues with bugs and/or rodents.

It's hard for the average citizen to get reports on restaurants, and the restaurant reports are difficult to read and understand. That's why the Center for Science in the Public Interest decided to tackle this project.

Since 40% of food borne illness issues are restaurant related versus about half that for home meals, it makes sense for folks to know what's going on behind closed doors at their favorite eateries. If people knew that mouse droppings were found in the ice machine at a local restaurant, that could make a huge difference in terms of eating there.

The Center for Science is asking that restaurants be required to post inspection grades. Restaurants who do post appear to work harder at making sure they keep things clean and healthy. The group is also calling for more user friendly reports that would be easy for the general public to understand.