Internet Dishes Out the Dirt on Restaurants and Health Ratings

By ROBERT NILES

May 31, 2001 12 AM PT

Diners don’t have to wait until they get to a restaurant to find out its food safety grade. Health inspection results for more than 34,000 Los Angeles County restaurants, groceries and other food service establishments are available online.

“In some areas, consumers are very sensitive to the grade, and some people will not patronize a ‘B’ location,” said Terrance Powell, a chief environmental specialist for Los Angeles County.

Diners can search the department’s Web site, at https://lapublichealth.org/rating, before making a trip to a restaurant.

The Web site does not include results for establishments in Long Beach, Pasadena or Vernon. Those cities run their own inspection programs and do not post individual results online, although Long Beach publishes a list of restaurants that were closed for health reasons at https://www.ci.long-beach.ca.us/health/restaurant_closures.html.

The Los Angeles County Health Department began assigning public letter grades to restaurants and other businesses that sell food in January 1998.

County inspectors visit these businesses as often as four times a year. An establishment starts each inspection with 100 points, and inspectors deduct points for each violation they find.

Establishments that end up with 90 points or more get an “A” grade, which is usually displayed on a sign near the front door. Those that score 80 to 89 earn a “B,” and those that score 70 to 79 get a “C.”

Receiving two scores below 70 in a 12-month period results in automatic closure. Restaurants also can be closed if inspectors find a “high risk” violation, such as vermin, no hot water or a sewage failure.

Just 0.4% of Los Angeles County restaurants--fewer than one out of every 200--score below 70 points. Nearly 77% of establishments earn an “A” grade, with just less than 20% earning a “B.” Only 3% of establishments get a “C,” Powell said.

On the Web site, visitors can search for inspection ratings by restaurant name, street, city, ZIP Code or grade.

Visitors can sort their search results alphabetically or by inspection date or score. The site lists addresses for the restaurants and their numerical score, along with links to maps and driving directions for each restaurant.

The online results, however, do not include links to each restaurant’s full inspection report. Diners who want details on specific violations will have to go to the restaurant and request its full inspection report.

Getting a little squeamish thinking about health code violations? Thinking about playing it safe and just eating at home?

Think again. Powell noted that the overwhelming number of food-related illnesses occur because of improper food handling at home.

The county has published an online quiz at https://lapublichealth.org/eh/homescore2.htm for people who would like to see how their home kitchens would score on a county health inspection.

Users should note that they can skip the name and address fields at the bottom of the quiz if they don’t want to be added to the department’s mailing list.

The quiz includes just 16 questions, but they’re tough. Be prepared to lose points for not using a bleach solution for sterilizing knives and cutting boards after use with raw meats, or for storing raw meat above vegetables in the refrigerator.

Just two unfavorable answers are enough to push a kitchen into “B” territory. A third bad answer nets a “C.”

It’s enough to make someone want to, well, go out to eat.

Robert Niles is a producer for Latimes.com

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