DHH talks improvements of Eat Safe program

Nearly one year after a state audit slammed the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ restaurant inspection process, DHH Assistant Secretary for Public Health J.T. Lane says improvements have been made to provide a better workplace environment and technology for inspectors.

Now, inspections are taking place in “real time,” Lane says, thanks to the improvements.

“We’re making sure every establishment is in accordance with our policy, and nothing is falling behind,” he says. “This is a positive project to change something that means so much to people who go out to eat. Over 20 million come to visit us for our food—that’s a huge statement. We need to get things right.”

But even Lane acknowledges some consumers may still have trouble understanding restaurant inspection reports that are publicly available via DHH’s Eat Safe website.

In December 2012, a state legislative audit questioned the validity of restaurant and other retail food establishment inspections, citing numerous problems. Chief among those were repeat offenders not correcting health violations, lack of follow-up inspections and enforcement actions for those in violation, and an internal database that was incomplete and riddled with problems.

Lane says by February the DHH was working to solve those problems and it implemented changes by March and April. Some of the changes include making the process easier to report between head and regional inspectors. A simple establishment inspection schedule tool was built and put into place for each region. The way employees were evaluated was also retooled.

For establishments that were repeat offenders, compliance orders were also overhauled, and that process now goes through the central DHH office in Baton Rouge. To date, around 18 compliance orders have been filed and around $14,000 in fines has been collected.

An increase in inspection fees was also levied—from $100 to $150. With this additional money, DHH now has resources to overhaul systems and do more inspections. At the same time, resources will be allocated toward hiring a statewide quality assurance director.

“We’re also looking to provide an opportunity for these establishments to learn about food safety and have one-on-one consultation,” he says. “The main job of this director will be to go on the road and meet with the associations.”

That includes the Louisiana Restaurant Association and the state Retailers Association. Lane says the business community understands the need for food safety and wants more inspections.

“They want to be operating safely,” he says. “They don’t want people to visit a place that’s unsafe. They accepted the process with a lot of positivity and want a culture of safety and good eating.”

Though the inspection process is transparent to consumers, Lane says the inspection reports’ language can sometimes be difficult to understand.

“We’re looking at ways to enhance the language,” Lane says. “We’re looking at getting those changes implemented very soon so people understand what we mean by certain things. We’ll have that in the coming months. We’re committed to providing that language. I want people to be empowered to make their own decisions. For now, we’ve got the best option.”