Visit from the Health Department

I'm not sure how anyone is going to survive the new rules and regulations. They are just making a tough job a whole lot tougher. Some of the things I was told today include:
Don't leave clean silverware on the table overnight, someone might touch it. Take it up each evening or wrap it. No longer can we preset for the next day.
If you have a worn pan, cutting board, or utensil in use it is now a critical violation. That means a C!
You have to wear gloves when handling ready to serve foods, that includes lemons and fruit that the servers handle. So either I prep for my servers now or they too have to wear gloves. They have to have gloves or use a utensil to place the lemons on the glass of tea or water.
Everything and I mean everything has got to be labled in and out. Best have everyone carry markers in their pockets. Hmmm what else did he say.... oh yeah they will be changing how they deal with a C rating after January 1. If you are unlucky enought to get a C, once you fix the problem (which is usually always stupid and can be fixed easily) they will only raise you back up to a B!!
They are also switching up the inspectors now so you can no longer bond with them
And there is so much more.......
I just wanted to share with you guys, be ready!!
Cheers... gonna have a drink

[Robin Garr]

Sounds like it's worth a follow-up, Michele. Is this the result of new state laws, do you know, or the new Louisville mayor, new Health Department director, or something else?

The silverware rule is silly, but labeling stuff has always been a requirement. My employees all have to have a marker as part of their uniform. It's crucial to know when something was opened, or cooked. Have you guys ever seen "Kitchen Nightmares"? Restaurant employees without good FIFO guidance leave things to rot sometimes, especially if it's not labeled with a date. ( Not that that's Michele's case).

I've never felt the need to bond with a health inspector to pass...you have to have the same standards all the time.

And of *course* you should use gloves when handling ready-to-serve foods. Yikes!

Don't know about the "worn pan" rule - lots of restaurants use worn pans. Now, if it's a teflon pan with the coating flaking off - that's a hazard. They should be thrown away at the first flake.

Robin, I don't think any of these rules are new, except perhaps the silverware rule.

Certainly makes me glad I don't work in the industry. The only one of those changes that makes sense to me as a consumer is the one regarding upgrading a grade of C. I know it takes away one of the tricks restaurants used to use to keep the better letter grade but it probably will provide consumers with a fairer evaluation.

They are also switching up the inspectors now so you can no longer bond with them

Many (most) of the things you pointed out seem like food safety overkill and I can appreciate your frustration. On the flip side of that coin, I don't want the people who inspect the restaurants I eat in to "bond" with you or any other restaurant owner and I personally applaud that change.

How many times do the inspectors come in? When we were in the food manufacturing business we had an inspector on site everyday. We had to provide their own locking office, file cabinet, desk and chair. It can't be that bad!

Madeline - currently about twice a year. On the other hand, having them come so seldom might be more problematic than having them there every day, if you know what I mean.

ok maybe bonding was the wrong word, but in previous years you would know the inspector in your area. Marsha, I wasn't talking about cooked, frozen or fresh foods being labled, dry stock also, everything on your shelves in the kitchen. They will actually go through all the drawers to look at your silverware and utensils. I have lots of drawers in my restaurant, some stuff I use some I don't. So get rid of anything you don't use anymore because now it's a critical violation which means a C only to be upgraded now to a B, that's the point I was making
I have a very large, very clean kitchen and a great staff therefore I am very fortunite. But I have never been under a microscope as I was today. I was just surprised about how long he was there and I also just took my certification test recently so I was already briefed on some of this. I'm just thinking that next they will tell me that the servers have to wear gloves when setting up the tables or polishing the silverware.

Robin... it's the new state regulations,they tell me in a couple of years it will really get tough...

We setup and ran a pretty stringent HAACP program. In addition we hired third party audits. The third party audits became a requirement if you wanted to sell food products to big customers like Costco or Sam's club. Do any of the restaurants used these services such as AIB or Siliker? I have a feeling this may be in your future guys.

The certification process you mentioned is provided by the health department?

There are some ready to eat foods in pastry world that really have to be handled with are hands. I can't imagine placing some of the decorations I use with gloves on. Tiny little things. My inspector said that the pastry people are the ones having the most problems. Fortunately there are "workarounds." Double hand wash, nail brush and anti-bacterial gel. Oh, and you have to keep a record of every time you do that.

There are so many other problems the HD needs to be working on. Most of this is overkill.

These rules were all passed May 1 and it was a State board of health thing. Between May 1 and January 1, 2011, the inspectors are just "informing" you of the new changes. January 1, they will crack down and implement them 100%. They had seminars at the health dept. once every 2 or 3 weeks throughout the summer for restaurant owners to get informed about the new code. Also, the Louisville Originals had a special seminar just last week with Gretchen Weisenberger from the Health Dept. to answer "smaller restaurant" types of questions. Leah, I feel for you with the pastry stuff - it's a killer!!

Good luck everyone ... just be prepared!

~Anne, Mayan Cafe

Just FYI, the last training session is December 15 at 2 pm. I'm all signed up.

Leah ...do you have a link.

The new Kentucky requirements are an update to bring the state in line with the 2000 FDA Food Code - the FDA Food Code is updated every 5 years. Many states have been enforcing these requirements since the inception. What is unusual here is that KY was still abiding by a Food Code 25 years old and implemented all of the changes simultaneously, rather than slowly adding new requirements. I was held to the 2000 FDA Food Code in Florida in 2002. Kentucky has been operating on the 1985 food code for better than 20 years.

Many of the requirements are a little extreme, others are good food handling. The estimate for employee glove use is now 50-100 gloves per employee, per shift. An example - if I need bread for a sandwich, I am expected to open the package of bread, put on gloves, get the bread, remove the gloves, close the bread package, then don new gloves to assemble the sandwich (under the assumption that the exterior of the bread package may be contaminated). The requirement for time/temperature logs is extreme for a small, independent operator - if I make a large batch of soup, I must record the time that soup reached 165F, then record the time it reached 70F (during chilling), and then the time it reached 40F (again, during chilling). During reheat, I must log the time it reaches 40F (on the way up) and the time it reached 165 again. This total time must not elapse 4 hours - not a big deal, as anyone who practices safe food handling will not come close to this - it's not the time and temperature controls that become the bear, it's the sheaths of paper logs we are expected to keep. Buffet service creates its own unique challenges for compliance, with new requirements for temperature controls and the exchange of utensils, no matter how held or handled, within specific time requirements.

Anyone in a large-scale operation (any place with a HACCP plan) is already doing this. But for a small to mid-size establishment, the paperwork and recordkeeping requirements are practically impossible to manage with a small staff.

I believe that all of these are positive steps, but I do wish the State had been more willing to phase in the requirements over a couple of year, and more aggressive in their training and support of implementation. A lot of Chefs and Owner-Operators are in for a big wake-up call when the Inspector comes in next time.

A tip, though - If you contact the Metro Health Dept, they will send someone who will assist you - an audit, not an inspection. They don't want to fail people, they don't want you top have a big red "C" on your window. They want to keep the public safe, and will work with you to make sure you are compliant. If you have concerns, call them and ask. It's much better to have them guide you through before an inspection than to try to justify or beg forgiveness when the Inspector is there!

My biggest problem with the hardcore inspection is that sometimes the inspector's don't communicate well with you at all. Our last one, our inspector was randomly swapping to Celcius and back (both with his devices and in conversation), and refusing to allow me to tell him that he was on the wrong scale. I'd watch him temp something on our hot line and state it was only 90 degrees (despite the fact my therm read 165), refer to his chart and state we were way under temp. Took almost 3 minutes of me arguing on that one. It would be nice to just have some communication with them, and have them use a little reason/leniancy on some issues. Since we're at Sullivan University, our dumpsters are shared by several hundred employees and a thousand students. My interns/staff reclose the lid every time we take out trash, but its infeasible for me to train people from 3 departments over on how to take trash out (and close the lid), he's in other students labs, marking me down for students/products that are in no way related to our operation and just not listening. We actually got a critical control violation for eggs sitting out that were on order. As in they were removed from refrigeration, set down while their pan got hot, well according to him that was improper storage (45 seconds max). Can't even begin to describe how furious and frustrated I was that day.