State beefs up program

As part of an ambitious plan to drastically reduce the "extremely high" number of major food safety violations found at Hawaii eateries, the state will more than double the number of restaurant inspectors to 26 over the coming year, increase the frequency of unannounced inspections of food establishments, and move to a placard system that will let customers know if food safety problems were found.

Also, as early as 2014, the state Department of Health hopes to put food safety inspection reports for all eateries online in a searchable database, a move to improve compliance with regulations.

So far, Hawaii restaurants, hoteliers and others in the food industry have been receptive to the changes, saying they may actually boost business by giving customers peace of mind.

"We support an initiative that’s going to improve food safety, and we genuinely feel that our restaurants are already in compliance," said Roger Morey, executive director of the Hawaii Restaurant Association, adding that the proposed changes are "an important topic of conversation among our members."

The effort to strengthen Hawaii’s restaurant inspection system is years in the making, and comes as other states are also moving to beef up food safety enforcement and increase the public’s access to what government inspectors find in restaurant kitchens.

Peter Oshiro, manager of the Department of Health’s environmental health program, said the work under way in Hawaii is ultimately about decreasing the incidence of foodborne illnesses.

Eight in 10 restaurant inspections on Oahu result in the issuance of a major violation (given out for problems that significantly raise the risk of foodborne illness).

"That violation rate is extremely high," Oshiro said.

The number should be somewhere in the range of 20 percent — which is where Oshiro says the island can be once the more robust food inspection system is in place.

In fiscal year 2012, which ended June 30, Oshiro’s office conducted 3,585 routine inspections of food establishments on Oahu, and issued 3,457 major violations, state figures show. (Some eateries had more than one major violation.)

A major violation includes employees who are sick or don’t wash their hands, improper hot or cold temperature controls for food, or not correctly sanitizing or cleaning food prep areas.

Meanwhile, 1,812 of the state’s 9,800 food establishments underwent inspections last fiscal year after complaints from the public, up 26 percent from fiscal year 2011, when 1,433 complaints were made, DOH  figures show. Of the complaints made in fiscal year 2012, 254 involved reports of foodborne illness, according to the Department of Health.

Oshiro said that by adding more food safety inspectors, the state will be able to increase the frequency of routine visits to eateries that pose the greatest risk for foodborne illness. Those restaurants include those that have extensive menus or regularly prepare, cook, cool and reheat food.

Currently on Oahu, each inspector is responsible for about 644 food establishments, which means they can inspect an eatery only once every 24 to 30 months, according to a report to the Legislature. Oshiro said he wants restaurants with greater risk for foodborne illness to be inspected two or three times annually.

The state’s plan also includes:

» Instituting a "stoplight" inspection placard system. Food establishments will receive a green placard if they have no major violations or if one is found that can be corrected before the inspector leaves the premises.

Eateries with two or more major violations will receive a conditional, yellow placard, which must be placed in a "highly visible" place, such as next to the cash register.

A food inspector will return within 24 hours of issuing a yellow placard if the eatery says the violations have been corrected. And if no problems are found on the return visit, the restaurant will get a green placard.

A red placard is issued when a restaurant is shut down because of very serious violations, such as a lack of water or a heavy rodent problem.

» Bringing on more food safety inspectors, for a total of 26 in the field by the end of the year. Currently, there are 11 in the field, and five have been hired but must undergo extensive training over the next few months.

» Increasing permitting fees for food establishments, to an average of $200 annually from an average of $46 a year. The largest kitchens will pay about $500 to $600 a year.

The fee increase is expected to generate about $1.9 million annually, from $772,000.

» Cracking down on roadside food trucks operating illegally, especially outside of normal weekday office hours.

To help tackle the problem, the DOH plans to assign food inspectors to work some weekend or after-hours shifts —something that hasn’t happened in eight years because of budgetary restraints.

Over the past several months, Health Department representatives have been meeting with industry officials to discuss the new food safety efforts and solicit feedback. The new placard system and fees require changes to current regulations so they must go through a public hearing process, something that is expected to happen this spring.

Oshiro hopes to roll out the placards and fees this summer.

While restaurateurs are largely in favor of the changes, they are concerned that if a yellow placard is issued on a Friday, it might not be taken down until Monday, when inspectors return to work.

And what if there’s a Monday holiday, asked the restaurant association’s Morey. That would essentially leave an eatery with a yellow placard for four days —Friday through Tuesday — and could mean a "tremendous hit" to revenue.

At this point, though, the Health Department has said restaurants that get yellow placards on Fridays will have to leave them up through the weekend.

"The answer is, sorry but yes," Oshiro said, adding his branch is trying to look for funds that would allow inspectors to regularly work weekends but isn’t hopeful. "The fact of the matter is they were supposed to have no major violations."

Hawaii is one of a number of states in recent years that have strengthened its restaurant inspections system, including moving to placard systems that allow the public to easily find out whether major violations were found at an establishment.

"Before, you’d go in and there’d be a violation and you would issue a penalty and in some cases it became a way of doing business," said Joseph Corby, executive director of the Association of Food and Drug Officials, a Pennsylvania-based industry group. But when an eatery is issued a negative placard that they must post publicly, he said, "they strive very hard to get that thing off the door."

He added, "It has had an enormous impact."

Corby said a number of jurisdictions have also moved to put inspection reports online, as Hawaii is planning, as another way to improve compliance.

The changes to Hawaii’s food inspections system follow years of concerns raised by legislators, Health Department officials and others.

Aurora Saulo, a University of Hawaii food technology professor who has provided training to Hawaii’s food safety inspectors and to food establishments, said she believes the state is now on the right track.

"I’m really proud that they’re doing it," she said.

She added it really is up to individual food establishments to ensure that they are following guidelines and training staff.

Saulo instructs restaurateurs on how to come up with detailed plans that anticipate food safety problems and spell out their solutions.

"It’s the industry that should really be looking at how to reduce the hazard," she said.