If you have always wondered what a food safety inspector dinged a restaurant for on its periodic inspection, you soon will be able to see a clearer picture.
As the state’s cadre of food inspectors transitions from the state’s health agency to its agriculture department on July 1, officials say consumers soon will be able to eye what inspectors see when they rate restaurants from A to C.
Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Derek Underwood said in an effort to increase efficiency, the agency will implement a new process to photograph and document violations.
“We’re going to have more consistency when it comes to the food grades and what consumers actually see,” Underwood said. “We want to make sure any photos taken have a full explanation of what regulation was in violation and what corrective actions were in place.”
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control formally will transfer its food safety staff to the S.C. Department of Agriculture’s Consumer Protection Division in less than two weeks. Inspectors will continue to oversee inspections of 22,000 retail food establishments across South Carolina.
Inspections won’t change
Restaurant owners and managers say they are happy to hear the laws and staff overseeing food safety in the state would not change, but few said they knew about the agency transfer occurring.
“My [inspector] said the transfer had to do with management and not with the inspections,” said Al Thompson, owner of Krazy Owls in John’s Island. “He told me I wouldn’t notice a difference.”
When asked about how his experience with food inspectors has been since owning a restaurant, he chuckled and said, “It’s actually been good.”
Krazy Owls received an uncharacteristic C grade during its routine April inspection. Five days later according to the S.C. Food Grades website, a follow-up inspection led to a new grade of A — a perfect 100, Thompson said.
At the time of routine inspection, the restaurant’s cooler reportedly was broken. That was quickly fixed.
“We were waiting on parts to come for the cooler,” one employee said, emphasizing the restaurant’s team was making strides to improve every day, including retraining of new employees when necessary.
Thompson added that while there were some rules he hadn’t understood, the state’s practices seemed fair.
“I’ve got a good inspector who is very nice and explains everything to me,” he said. “I haven’t been upset by anything he’s done.”
He said the inspector told him, for example, that the restaurant needed to improve its daily cleaning, a small adjustment.
The employee added, “It was a lot of little things, but when they compiled [the score], it makes a big difference.”
Grades may go unnoticed, but they’re posted
Inspectors will continue to regulate retail food safety, milk and dairy, and wholesale bottled products. Regulation of food safety will include restaurants, grocery stores, caterers, school cafeterias and some convenience stores.
The S.C. Food Grades website shows that Caviar and Bananas, a corner market in downtown Charleston, received an A on its most recent inspection. When Tony Withers, a customer at the market on George Street, heard itreceived an A for its food grade, he said he was not surprised.
“It looks clean,” he said as he glanced around. “I’d eat off the floor anyway.”
Food grades may be unnoticed by restaurant goers, but the lettered decals are placed on the front window for the consumer’s benefit. The grades indicate any risk factors of food-borne illnesses the establishment has due to unsanitary practices.
“I never noticed it, but it’s still good to know,” Withers said.
As part of the agency transition, food safety will be headquartered in Columbia, and 118 regionally-based inspectors will work remotely.
Since the change within agencies will allow food safety staff to focus primarily on food inspections across the state, Underwood said the restructuring would increase the agency’s efficiency and responsiveness. 55% of the Agriculture Department’s staff now will be focused on food safety after their transition. This pales in comparison to the less than 3% of the department that previously managed safety regulations.
“This structure will allow us to have expertise on the specific details of a food inspection as opposed to having a jack-of-all-trades to many,” he said.
Over the last five months, Underwood traveled to regional offices and met with each food safety inspector. He conducted food safety inspections with them to observe the inspections.
“I’ve got all the science background to handle it and I just wanted to go out to see what the inspectors of the restaurants are seeing on a day-to-day basis to offer some help and guidance,” he said.
Underwood said the Agriculture Department was well-equipped for the coming change because of its nearly 50 years of managing wholesale food manufacturing. The agency already oversees animal food safety, specialty food producers, and produce farming.
“I’m surrounded by a really good team,” he said. “I’m confident that we’re going to make a big impact in the food safety realm and consumers and our state are going to be satisfied with what we’re continuing and what changes we’re bringing.”
Understanding South Carolina’s food grading system
Anyone who enters a food establishment in South Carolina soon should be able to scan a QR code near the food grade on the door to see the actual inspection and associated pictures. With the transition of retail food safety programs from DHEC to SCDA, the agency said it plans to standardize its inspection system to include specified pictures, along with a full explanation of the regulation cited and the reasoning for the grade the establishment was given.
What grades mean
Grade A: Establishment earned more than 87 points out of 100 points.
Grade B: Establishment earned 87-78 points. Food safety practices need improvement.
Grade C: Establishment earned less than 78 points. Food safety practices need significant improvement.
Each score is a snapshot in time based on how a retail food establishment handles the five major risk factors related to employee behaviors and preparation practices. These five major risk factors are:
Food contact equipment cleanliness — Did the inspector see build-up on equipment that comes into contact with food?
Cooking temperatures — Are foods being cooked or heated to temperatures within a safe range?
Employee health — Does the facility have a plan in place to require employees who are sick to stay home?
Food Sources — Can the facility prove where all foods are coming from and are they coming from approved sources? (An exception would be raw, unprocessed produce from small farms, produce stands or farmers markets.)
Food holding temperatures — Were the foods maintained at safe hot or cold holding temperatures?
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