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A new initiative from Huron Perth Public Health will disclose food premise inspection reports online.
The 'Check What We Inspect' website reports on inspected restaurants, mobile food trucks, catering premises, grocery stores and rental halls, including Stratford and area restaurants, according to a report prepared for HPPH's board of health.
Those results should be up this month, the report stated.
Previously, the public could access a copy of any food premise inspection report by requesting it from HPPH and can still do so.
Reports for other premises inspected by HPPH including recreational water facilities (pools and spas), small drinking water systems, personal service settings (tattoo shops, hair salons), childcare facilities will be added to the website at a later date.
The Ministry of Health requires a webpage so the public can access health inspection reports. HPPH was delayed in doing so by the amalgamation of Huron County Health Unit and Perth District Health Unit in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Status of beach water quality, and convictions for tobacco and e-cigarette retailers are already available on the website.
The public will be able to view a small portion of each inspection report including the date of inspection and any infractions. When launched, inspection reports dated Jan. 1 and later will be added. Inspections prior to that will not be included but can be requested.
Infractions will be logged as critical and non-critical.
Critical infractions include cross contamination of raw and ready to eat food, evidence of pest infestation, lack of hot and cold running water and improper cooking, cooling or hot-holding temperatures. Non-critical includes small maintenance issues, pest control records or broken floor tiles, for example.
A description will be added to explain nature of the infraction. On each inspection report, the public will be shown the number of infractions, whether they were critical or non-critical.
Some infractions are corrected immediately and will have a corrected during inspection (CDI) note. If an infraction is not fixed at the time of inspection, a follow up will occur. At the time of the re-inspection, a new report will be issued. That report will be added to the webpage so the public is aware a correction has taken place. The original inspection report will also stay up.
The report said that HPPH understands outstanding infractions reflect negatively on a business. Once infractions are corrected, the webpage will be updated as quickly as possible. Food premise operators provided feedback on their concerns through a survey in April.
Food premise operators were informed about the program in December.
All 946 food premises operators across Huron and Perth counties were provided a link to an online survey. The feedback is being used to inform internal processes and future communications.
The webpage will include an FAQ section to explain how to interpret inspection reports.
All food premises will be required to display 'Check What We Inspect' signage at their entrance, as required by the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
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