Business & Tech

How Do Sunset Hills and Crestwood Eateries Rank On Health Dept Inspections?

Most Sunset Hills and Crestwood food purveyors scored 97-100 on inspections, out of a possible 100. O'Leary's was the lowest at 90.

When you’re cooking in your own kitchen, you clean, wash your fruits and veggies and closely monitor how thoroughly cooked your food is. Can you say you know the same about your city's restaurants? 

Most Sunset Hills and Crestwood food purveyors scored 97-100 on inspections, out of a possible 100, according to the St. Louis County Health Department website showing the past three inspections.

The majority were found in violation over not providing records of employees' Hepatitus A vaccines on site. It was unclear whether this was a new requirement with establishments not yet up to speed.

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O'Leary's in Sunset Hills had the lowest score to be found in the two cities, lacking compliance in cold food handling and maintenance of facility, but still scored a 90. The last inspection was July 6.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six people get sick from eating contaminated food annually.

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Furthermore, the CDC reports that the most common pathogens leading to disease and illness are the norovirus at 58 percent of the time, and salmonella at 11 percent. 

To understand the inspection process Patch Editor Aja J. Junior did an electronic interview with Gerrin Cheek Butler, program manager for the St. Louis County Department of Health Restaurant Inspection Program.

Butler provided insight into how inspections are performed and how food establishments are graded. 

Patch: How often are inspections done?

Gerrin Cheek Butler: Inspections are risk based. The inspector assigns a number between 1 to 4, with the number indicating the number of times per year a food establishment will be inspected. This is based on the extent of the food preparation, the type of food handling, and past performance at the food establishment.

Patch: How does a restaurant get graded?

Butler: Violations are assigned points based on severity. Those points are then subtracted from a possible 100. The grading system is as follows:

A = 100-90; B = 80-89; C = 79-70

Patch: What triggers a follow-up inspection?

Butler: Having an uncorrected violation can trigger a follow-up inspection.

Patch: How often do restaurants pass inspection the first time?

Butler: Ninety-five percent or more pass inspection the first time.

Patch: What does each grade say about the restaurants?

Butler: The grade says that the food establishment has a score that is within the range as noted above.

Patch: What percentage of restaurants fail inspections? What happens with those?

Butler: Only a small percentage (5 percent) fail inspection. If a food establishment fails an inspection with no violations that lead directly to food-borne illness, then we work with them to gain compliance through a compliance schedule. Violations that would lead to food-borne illness may require that a food establishment be closed until the violation is corrected.

Patch: What are some of the most common problems for St. Louis County restaurants as far as inspections?

Butler: The most common violation is lack of Hepatitis A vaccination records.

Patch: How many inspections, on average, are done each year?

Butler: Approximately 10,000.

Patch: How is the determination made to do an inspection on a currently existing restaurant?

Butler: All food establishments are assigned a risk category as noted above.

Patch: How are inspections performed?

Butler: All inspections are done in-person visually by one of our inspectors. These inspections are surprise inspections—no forewarning is given to the establishment.

Jean Whitney contributed to this article.


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